


Do not start dating again right away after a break up

by dyrdyar



Category: Gintama
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Coffee Shops, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Romance, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gintama manga spoilers, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Past GinTaka, Slow Burn, Summer Festivals, Time Travel, eventual GinHiji, idiots to lovers, stuck in locker, watch me fill this fic with every shipping tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:07:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 62,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyrdyar/pseuds/dyrdyar
Summary: When Zura points out that Gintoki likes Hijikata, he doesn't believe that. There is absolutely no way that he is interested in Hijikata Toushirou. Everyone around him seems to disagree, and maybe, Gintoki has realized it. But the thing is, Gintoki can’t forget a certain one-eyed man just yet.Hijikata hates Gintoki, or that’s what he thinks. Lately, after so many encounters with the silver haired man, he begins feeling something else that’s not the usual anger he feels when he sees that annoying face. But the thing is, Hijikata can’t admit it just yet.How many bad rom-com cliches must happen before they can finally be honest with each other?New chapter: The term ‘first love’ is pretty cringe when you think about it(A strange encounter with a fortune teller transported Gintoki back to the past, to Shouka Sonjuku)
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki, Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
Comments: 66
Kudos: 229





	1. Old friends know everything about you, including your fetishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zura points out something Gintoki doesn't want to realize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fic in the fandom. English is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes :o anyways this is really self indulgent because I hc'd that Gin-san and Takasugi definitely had a thing in the past but they broke up and then they moved on to other people (Hijikata and Bansai respectively) but the tension is Still There.

“You are in love.”

“Zura, you are the dumbest person I know. Your opinions mean jack-shit.”

The two of them are sitting together in a dimly lit traditional bar, drinking cheap booze like the world depends on it. They happened to run into each other late at night. Gintoki was searching for yet another new bar to get wasted and Zura was running away from the authorities. Basically, a normal Tuesday night. This and that led to them drinking together, because is there any better way to spend a normal Tuesday night than drinking with an old buddy? Especially if you want to escape from the persistent eyes of those Bakufu lapdogs.

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura.” After dropping his catchphrase, Katsura adds smugly, pointing a finger at Gintoki. “I know you like the back of my own hand. You can’t fool me, Gintoki! You are in love.”

Gintoki sighs. “And you are mistaken.” 

“Liar! We have been friends for 20 years, more or less. I know you even more than I know my dead parents.”

“First, that was too dark. Second, sucks to be you but you are wrong.”

“You can deny it all you want but I know the truth. You are in love with someone, and that someone is none other than that Demonic Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi!”

“Bzzt. Wrong. Dead wrong. Hey, owner, can I get boiling hot water to throw at this guy’s face? He’s pissing me off.”

“Haha! Just like you, Gintoki, trying to escape by changing topics! Like I said, I know you well! For example, I know that you are weak to tsundere-” Zura’s excited rambling is cut short as Gintoki’s sword flies past his face.

“I am sorry~ I didn’t quite catch that~ Can you repeat it one more time?” Gintoki’s wrathful face and violent outburst made the other customers hurriedly leave, and the poor bar owner is looking back and forth between the two men and the sword stuck on the wooden wall behind Katsura.

As expected of Katsura, he doesn't lose his cool and simply nods his head absentmindedly. “You liked tsundere. Whenever we play dating games together back then, you call dibs on the tsundere type. Also, you told me you found smoking is sexy, which I frankly can’t understand because what is sexy about lung cancer? You have the weirdest tastes, and I am not talking about your food preferences, I am talking about how you liked tsundere smoker with daddy issues like Hijikata and Taka-”

“Huuuh? Zura, I know your head is empty but now you are not making any sense. Cut it off or I will seriously throw you to the river.” Gintoki stands up from his seat, he is about to seriously punch this irritating guy.

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura! Or not. Call me Detective of Love.” Katsura gives him a thumbs up, which Gintoki returns by smashing his annoying face to the table.

“Rather than being a detective, it’s more fitting to call you a defective. Your reasoning is totally off.”

“Hahaha! To think that I would see you lose your cool like this! My suspicions are now confirmed! You! Are! In! Love! With! Hijikata!”

“Shut up! And don’t call it ‘in love’! It’s incorrect and it sounds tacky as hell! What am I, a shoujo manga protagonist?!”

“What should I call it then? Crushing? Like ‘like’? Catching romantic feelings? Burning desire which can no longer be quelled anymore?”

“Wrong. Call it deep hatred.”

“Tsk, tsk. Gintoki, you know that there is a fine, thin line between hatred and love. Every fangirl loves that trope, you know? Enemies to lovers, slow burn, pining, and all that?”

“How would I know that? Gin-san is the type who goes straight to the PWP tag. If they don’t start having intense BDSM session in one chapter, I am out.”

“Honestly, you do have the worst fetish imaginable. And you call yourself a samurai?” Zura sighs in disappointment.

“Shut up, I don’t want to hear that from someone who likes widows, but go off I guess.”

Now it is Zura’s turn to lose his cool and transform into a stuttering mess. “W-w-what are you talking about?! I don’t have any widow fetish, or worse, a MILF fetish, and I definitely was not fooled into a meeting with a hot MILF near my area, which turned out to be an ambush set up by the Shinsengumi!”

“So that’s the reason why they were chasing you?! God, you are an idiot!”

Gintoki met Katsura earlier when the latter was running away from the Shinsengumi. Despite insulting him every chance he got, Gintoki didn't want to see Katsura captured in front of his eyes again, so he helped him hide by distracting the person leading the chase, Hijikata Toushirou. As usual, when they met, they instantly got into an argument about pointless things which wasted about 20 minutes, enough for Katsura to escape. That argument, which grew heated enough that Gintoki himself was very close to being captured himself for disrupting police work, finally ended when Okita shot his bazooka.

After Okita waved his bazooka-free hand goodbye and chased after the disgruntled Hijikata, Gintoki found himself looking at the vice chief’s retreating back more intently than he would like to admit. And then, Katsura emerged from the shadows and dragged him to drink the rest of the night away. 

“Sometimes you are so stupid, you made me wonder why you were able to survive all this time.”

“Fret not, Gintoki. I may have missed the meeting but I gained something much more meaningful. Yes! The knowledge that you are in love!” 

“What did you even see during that exchange? We just insulted each other like always. Go get your eyes checked. I can refer you to Shinpachi’s eye doctor.”

“Gintoki, you might have grown up into an adult but your love technique is at the same level with a prepubescent boy in elementary school who thinks that pulling his crush’s ponytail counts as flirting.”

“Can I kick your ass once? Please Zura, let me kick your ass. I will give you 300 yen.”

Katsura ignores Gintoki. “You don’t know how to talk to your crush so you insult them and get into arguments with them and your sugar ridden brain thinks that somehow you are making progress. You were like this with Takasugi too. At first I was quite amused because it was rather endearing watching you as a child annoying him because you wanted him to talk to you. But now? Seeing a 27 year old man pulling this schoolboy at recess crap like you do is pathetic to watch.”

And that successfully shut Gintoki up. He wants to deny it, but he doesn’t know what to say. Okay, maybe he is slightly interested in that nicotine freak, but so what? It is normal for anyone to be interested in a weird species of human who sucks mayonnaise out of bottles like it was a nectar of the gods. Hell, it would be even weirder to not be interested in strange lifeforms! His interest is perfectly normal, and he definitely isn’t thinking about how good-looking the Shinsengumi vice commander is, or the way his deep blue eyes make him forget what he wanted to say, or how his voice reminds him of rich dark chocolate. How he sometimes walks out of the Yorozuya faintly hoping that he would see a familiar dark haired man in town. 

Gintoki tries to rationalize the weird thumping sound in his chest that appears when he thinks of Hijikata. _‘I must really hate him.’_

“Well, given that you are silent, you probably realized something.” Katsura smirks.

“Geez, stop talking, won’t you? You were never interested in this romantic stuff before.” 

“It’s something concerning my oldest and most trusted friend after all. Even if it is towards my sworn enemy, a dog of the Bakufu, I still want you to be happy. And then I can count on you and the in-laws when I get into trouble, right?”

“I hope you rot in a cell somewhere, Zura. Besides, there will be no in-laws. I am done with relationships.”

“Are you still hung up about Takasugi?”

Silence. Bringing up Takasugi is never a good thing, and Katsura, despite his hardheadedness, knows better than to tread that delicate topic. Katsura half-expected Gintoki to change the topic, like he always did. His friend doesn't like to talk about the past. Maybe the copious amount of alcohol he drank do something to change his secretive nature, because Gintoki answers.

“What made you think so?”

“What happened with him wasn’t your fault. It was… inevitable.”

Inevitable. Right. Being forced to choose between your teacher and friends, or lose both, and then choosing to kill that beloved teacher to save your friends. He effectively broke one promise, a promise to save that very same teacher, a promise he made to someone he loved. To save the teachings of his teacher, and to protect the soul of his friends, he chose to break the promise he made to Takasugi. 

“I am sure he understood.”

Did he? Gintoki made that promise to save Shouyou, believing that he could do it back then. He could protect everything. His teacher, his friends, and even his loved one. But he couldn’t. He was forced to choose, and he chose the one he made to Shouyou. Even until now, he could hear Takasugi screaming his name in anger and despair. As a result, he lost his teacher and his friends, and his loved one was left with one eye, a world of sorrow, and a soul full of hatred towards everything.

Sometimes, Gintoki dreams that he chose a different path. What if he slashed the binding restraining Shouyou and made quick work of the Naraku and that Tendoushu member, maybe he could save the three of them. What if he didn’t choose to attack that one keep, maybe he wouldn’t lose so many comrades and they could avoid being captured by the Naraku. What if he fought and struggled with all his might on that night Shouyou was taken away? What if he never invited Takasugi to go back to Shouka Sonjuku after that brat defeated him for the first time? What if he never threw that damned sword?

What if he ran after him on that fateful day? That day, after they were released from the Naraku’s clutches and gifted Shouyou’s severed head to bury, after they made countless graves and walked away from each other, what if he turned around and chased after Takasugi? What if he stopped him from walking down that path of destruction?

“The first time I met him after many years was during that festival when Old Man Gengai tried to assassinate the Shogun. He suddenly came up from behind me. It was all so nostalgic. He is still short, did he not grow taller at all? The familiar street food, loud voices and faraway sounds of folks dancing, just looking at the firework with him. He loved festivals, didn’t he?”

“He did. We used to gorge ourselves on takoyaki using his money.”

“Heh. I was thinking the same thing. And then he told me some edgy shit about the black beast within him that keeps howling. Then, I punched him.”

“I met him before and after that whole ordeal. His face after you punched him looked slightly happier. Like he found an answer to something he had looked for.”

“He did like it rough.”

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

Silence settles around them once more, but it is no longer the deafening and crushing silence like before. Looking at Zura’s dumb concerned face, Gintoki finds it easier to breath.

“Gintoki, are you okay?” 

“Yeah.”


	2. Shamisen should only be played when you are drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gintoki plays the shamisen and Hijikata can't help but wonder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I always got possessed by the spirit of Fanfiction in the middle of the night... let me sleep...

The private dining place is crowded. Otose invited her girls and the Yorozuya to spend time together, probably one of her whims. Shinpachi invites his sister along, which means that Kyubei is coming too. Otae invites Tsukuyo to join the party as well, insisting that the more the merrier (“We don’t need to bother to invite Sarutobi-san. She would fall down from the room’s ceiling herself sooner or later.”). Of course, Hasegawa smells the offer of free sake and food from a mile away and joins too.

The merry party is momentarily disturbed when Kondou casually arrives with his subordinates, acting as if Otae had invited him to come. He is punched, as par the course, and the party resumes with the addition of the Shinsengumi. 

As the night goes on, Gintoki finds himself engaging in a drinking competition with Hasegawa as people cheer around them. Another round with Otose is going to start when Shinpachi and Kagura suddenly drag him away.

“What are you doing, shitty brats?” Gintoki asks, annoyed.

Shinpachi looks at him in disapproval. “No more drinking. You promised that you won’t drink after 11 PM.”

“Are you kidding me, Pattsuan? Do I look like a kid who can’t handle his liquor? A few more rounds won’t hurt anyone.”

“It will hurt your wallet, though.” Kagura says. Gintoki shoots her a glare.

“It’s fine. We can let loose once in a while, especially during celebrations like this. Both my wallet and I can still run wild.”

Shinpachi and Kagura exchange glances with each other before Shinpachi sighes. “Gin-san, you were the one who told us to stop you from drinking too much this morning. Even if you won’t listen to us, at least listen to yourself from this morning? He was looking out for you.”

“Was he? Well, tell him that both past me and future me are on their own. Oi, bring out more booze!”

Gintoki was about to reenter the drinking party when Kagura says calmly. “Do you want another scandal?” 

He freezes. Kagura and Shinpachi grinned and ushered him to a quiet spot near the wall. Shinpachi brings water for him to drink, which Gintoki stares at blankly before gulping it down. 

"Are you satisfied?"

"Pretty much! Try to sober up that empty head of yours, yes?"

“Well, I will leave then. I am going to use the karaoke machine! Don’t drink anymore just because we are not watching, okay?” Shinpachi says before skipping happily towards the machine on the other side of the room.

“Ah, you told me it is my turn next! I don’t want to listen to your horrible cover of Otsuu’s songs anymore!” 

Gintoki watches the two kids fighting over the right to use the karaoke machine and sighes. Everyone is having the best time of their lives. Otose, Hasegawa, Catherine, and Tsukuyo are loudly drinking together. Otae and Kyubei are talking about something with Sarutobi, who is already tied-up, God knows where she got that rope or who tied her. Tama is drinking her oil next to a red faced Yamazaki, who looks like he was about to faint. In another corner of the room, Kondou is still out cold with Okita doodling something on his face. Near them, he finds Hijikata sitting alone, drinking his alcohol.

Bored and looking for a fight, Gintoki approaches him.

“Do you think that drinking alone makes you look cooler or something?”

Hijikata looks up at him. “Get lost.”

“Did you forget who it was that came in uninvited? If anything, it’s you who should get lost.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will leave soon enough. I don’t want to drink with a weak man who can’t handle his liquor.”

“What was that?! I will let you know that Gin-san can handle his liquor better than anyone!”

“That’s really convincing, coming from a guy who is drinking water after running away from a drinking contest.”

“I am not running away from those freaks, I let them run away from me.”

“Keep making excuses for yourself, you rotten perm head.”

“What did you say, stupid mayora?!”

“You wanna go?!”

“Fine, bring it on! I will wipe the floor with your stupid face!”

Gintoki steals the sake cup from Hijikata’s hand and drinks it, glaring at him unblinkingly. Hijikata, not wanting to lose, grabs the sake bottle and chugs it down. Gintoki tries to wrestle the sake bottle from Hijikata, who swiftly turns around to evade him. Not one to back down easily, Gintoki grabs the vice commander's arm, surprising him over the sudden contact. The harsh grip causes Hijikata to momentarily lose control of the bottle. The bottle is swiftly seized by Gintoki. He brings the bottle to his lips and drinks straight from it, maintaining eye contact as he downs the content down to the last gulp. Hijikata finds his face growing warmer, probably because of the alcohol. 

The silver haired man smirks. “I win.”

“Don’t get too cocky now.”

“Oh, I’m just getting started.” Gintoki whispers. He moves his body towards Hijikata, or precisely, the sake bottle behind him. Their distance is growing closer and Hijikata suddenly notices the weird, almost teasing look on Gintoki’s eyes. That, and a flying microphone that catches Gintoki’s face, causing him to fall.

“BAD GIN-CHAN! STOP DRINKING!” Kagura yells across the room. She was singing when she saw Gintoki fooling around with Hijikata.

“Heh. Looks like it’s my win after all.” Hijikata laughs.

Gintoki rubs his head. “Shut up. That was an accident. It didn’t count.”

“Your kid put a stop on you because she saw your imminent defeat.”

“You are being unfair. Is that how you cops do things? Twisting facts and all that?”

“Not as twisted as your soul, you asshole.”

“Well, at least I am not as twisted as tax thieves who invite themselves to a humble civilian gathering like this.” Gintoki says in a mocking tone.

“Shut up, it’s not like we wanted to be here. Kondou-san asked us to come. Unlike some people, we have work to do.” Hijikata answers coolly.

“Oi, oi, working late at night? Government officials sure have it rough.”

“That’s why we need to leave soon. After Kondou-san wakes up from his punch induced sleep, we will leave. You don’t have to worry about us crashing your party anymore.”

“Well, calm down, Hijikata-san. Even those Joui rebels probably want to kick back and relax once in a while. We should follow their example too and kick a certain someone from the vice commander position so we can relax.” Okita unsheathes his sword and launches himself towards Hijikata with murderous intent.

The sudden arrival of Okita surprises the vice commander. Fortunately, he manages to catch the sword aimed at his head with his hands “Oi Sougo! Why are you following the example of the Joui rebels?! And why should the vice commander get kicked out! You just want to kill me!”

“Tch, I thought the drink already worked by now.”

“What did you say?! Did you put anything in my drink-” Before Hijikata could finish his sentence or escape from the assassination attempt, Okita is already kicked across the room by Kagura.

“Shut up! If you want to kill someone, do it outside, ‘kay?! Suddenly barging in and trying to turn our party into a murder scene, you guys are shameless!”

“What is it, China? Are you jealous because I am trying to kill someone other than you?”

“As if I would get jealous over scum like you!”

The assassination attempt aimed at his life is cut short because Okita suddenly decides that going at it with Kagura would be more fun. The two of them start fighting and nearly destroying the whole place. Tables are overturned, food thrown out, and sake bottles broken in two as the two calamities fight each other.

“Stupid brats! What are you doing?!” Otose screams at the pair.

“Go outside if you want to fight-” Hasegawa is suddenly knocked out by a stray kick.

“This party is for adult men and women to forget about worldly attachments! You kids should go outside and play kick the can!” Catherine yells.

Paying no heed to the drunken people’s protests, Okita and Kagura continue going at each other, dead-set on getting rid of one rival before the night ends.

“Kagura-chan, Okita-san, you can’t fight in a party, you know? It is time for everyone to get along with each other.” Otae suddenly stands between them, stopping the two problem kids on their track.

“Don’t stop me, anego! This guy’s face is pissing me off! I need to teach him a lesson!”

“Have you looked at your face? Yours are 100% more annoying. The face of an idiot.”

“Well, your face is 1000% more annoying!”

“Yours are 10000% more annoying.”

“If you still insist on fighting like this, how about we turn it into a friendly competition? For example, how about we make it into a competition about who can throw this gorilla doll the farthest?” Otae says joyfully as she holds up Kondou’s sleeping figure.

“COMMANDER!” Yamazaki screams in horror as he tries to stop them. But he is too late, as Okita and Kagura have accepted the challenge. The four of them disappeared into the garden. Otae sits again, smiling.

“Are you not going to stop them?” Gintoki asks Hijikata.

“Let them be. I don’t know them.”

“Talk about a cold-hearted colleague.”

“Oh, shut up.”

The atmosphere turns to normal bit by bit. Shinpachi soon joins Gintoki and Hijikata, looking dejected. 

“What’s up?” Gintoki glances at Shinpachi’s gloomy face.

“The karaoke machine broke when those two were fighting. I am already full and I can’t drink sake… Is there nothing else for me to do?”

“You can play with those idiots in the garden.” Gintoki suggests.

“Like hell! I would die!”

“Shinpachi-sama. Though it may be lacking, I found a replacement for the broken karaoke machine.” Tama approaches the trio, holding a certain stringed musical instrument.

“Where did you find that shamisen, Tama-san?” Shinpachi asks.

“I found it in that cupboard near the karaoke machine. I tried fixing the machine myself but it was unsuccessful. This restaurant is often used to entertain officials, who frequently bring courtesans and entertainers so the staff stored a number of musical instruments in the room.”

“A shamisen, huh? Let me play it.” Gintoki looks at the instrument, interested.

“Can someone as coarse as you play an instrument? I bet you would just break it in two if you tried playing it.” Hijikata says.

“Don’t joke with me, of course I know how to play it!”

“Well, he did play the shamisen back when we were trapped in that ghost inn. I was honestly surprised, Gin-san!” Shinpachi claps his hands appreciatively.

“Is that true, Gintoki-sama?” Tama asks.

“Yeah, things happened so I played the shamisen to help the stands imprisoned in that inn to pass on. Hand me the shamisen, Tama.”

“As if anything occult like that happened.” Hijikata snorts.

“Well, it did! If you were there you would probably be too scared to act but Gin-san, with all of his gallantry and talent, managed to escape unscathed!” 

“I bet those spirits were just running away from the hellish sound you produced.” Hijikata says as he watches Gintoki tuning the shamisen and experimentally plucking the strings.

“Don’t call them spirits! Call them stands! And before you run your mouth like a fool, listen to me playing first!”

Gintoki plucks the strings with the bachi, producing a clear tune. Satisfied, he starts playing a song. Hijikata faintly remembers the familiar melody, but he couldn’t name it at all. It is probably a folk song from somewhere. He notices the room quiet down as all eyes are drawn towards Gintoki playing the shamisen. He couldn’t blame them. The Yorozuya doesn’t look like someone who would appreciate the finer points of music, and certainly doesn't look like someone who could play an instrument. 

His performance is not the kind that would bring a standing ovation, but it is passable, Hijikata begrudgingly admits. Actually, it is quite good. Gintoki’s performance sounds like himself, as if he uses music to express something that he couldn’t say with words. A bit rough around the edges, but clear and honest.

“That was great, Gin-san!” Shinpachi says excitedly.

“Well that was… better than expected.” Kyubei says. 

“There are some awkward sounding parts, but it was not that bad.” Otose concludes.

“That was Spring Comes to the Plum, right?” Tsukuyo suddenly interjects.

“Are you familiar with that piece, Tsukuyo-san?” Tama asks.

“Before I was put in charge of Yoshiwara’s security, I learned how to play shamisen from Hinowa as her kamuro.”

“Yeah, yeah, leave it to the top courtesan to know it all about the fine arts.” Sarutobi rolls her eyes, which prompts a kunai to the forehead.

“So it was Spring Comes to the Plum! Gin-san didn’t sing the lyrics, so I was unsure.” Otae says.

“Still, I never thought that Gin-san is able to play the shamisen. He seemed more like a jock type.” Hasegawa laughs.

“Hasegawa-san is right. Where did you learn about it, Gin-san?” Shinpachi asks.

“It was probably from some courtesan somewhere. He probably got it along with STDs.” Catherine chimes in sarcastically.

“Don’t drag down someone’s reputation like that, you cat-eared freak! I am clean! I don’t do shit like that!” 

“It was probably from a lover. Gintoki-sama listened to a soulful piece played by his lover after a passionate embrace… Isn’t that very romantic?” Tama suggests.

“Gin-san has a lover?! Who?! I will knock her dead!” Sarutobi suddenly breaks free from her bondage. Hijikata spies the Yoshiwara girl suddenly tenses up at the mention of a lover, but only for a moment before she restrains the shinobi and whispers something to her. That isn’t a good sign. 

“Calm down, everyone. As if Gin-san is that kind of romantic.” Shinpachi laughs it off as Otose and Catherine nod along.

“Gin-san is the type who, as the kids call it, pump and dump.” Hasegawa says.

“Don’t make me out into a scumbag like that!”

Shinpachi pushes up his glasses. “Well, you are a scumbag all right. We just wanted to know who was your shamisen teacher, and you refused to answer.”

“Nobody taught me. There was someone years ago who used to play the shamisen a lot, and I just watched. I picked up the basics from that.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

“Oh, a bad break up?” Otae asks.

“It was not like that!”

Hijikata stays silent the whole time. The Yorozuya must have watched this mysterious shamisen player pretty closely, because despite his claim that he only picked up the basics, he managed to play it down to every tune. Hijikata tries imagining the silver haired samurai lazing around somewhere as a mysterious figure sat in front of him, plucking the shamisen strings with the bachi and singing a sweet love song. He visualizes those intense red eyes that looked at him with a strange teasing glint moments before looking at the shamisen player fondly, as if trying to etch that visage and song into memory. 

And apparently Gintoki did manage to etch it into memory. He remembered a song someone played long ago. He probably played it many times before. Was he remembering someone as he revisited those old tunes? What were the lyrics again? _"I wonder if that person is there."_ It was a song about spring coming, and a lover coming to visit. Did he wait for someone to come visit after all this time?

Hijikata's heart aches for reasons he doesn’t know. So what if that piece he played was a love song? Most of the popular hauta pieces for shamisen are love songs. It probably meant nothing. Maybe Gintoki only knew how to play that one song, and he heard it from a random shamisen player somewhere. 

_But, he didn’t deny the part about a lover._

He looks at Gintoki from the corner of his eye as he argues with the others over some pointless stuff. A lover, huh? Well, Gintoki is an adult man, it is not weird for an adult man to have former lovers, especially one as popular as Gintoki, despite his many shortcomings. Hijikata himself knows one or two things about love, though his first and only love ended in total disaster. He wonders if it was like that for Gintoki too. 

When Hijikata realizes that he is thinking of Gintoki and love at the same time, he mentally slaps himself. How stupid. He is probably more drunk than he thinks. Does it have anything to do with Okita spiking his drink before? Hijikata doesn’t know but decides to blame it on the alcohol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think that Takasugi is sappy enough that he strictly played love songs for Gintoki. Most of the popular Shamisen pieces from the Edo period (or hauta) are love songs, and he probably played those songs because it was simple to play. Also hooray for pining but not quite realizing it Hijikata! I will try to alternate between these two fools’ POVs. 


	3. Lockers are more spacious than they look

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gintoki. Hijikata. Stuck in a locker like a bunch of losers. That's it, that's the fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly never expected that this chapter would reach nearly 6000 words... I will try to make things shorter next time :< In case it's not clear wondering, this story takes place pre-SA arc but it will make frequent references to Gintoki's past.

When Gintoki sees that decrepit building, he knows nothing good would happen from setting his foot inside. Seriously, that building looks like it was built to serve as the picture example next to the term “haunted building” in dictionaries. Look at that ominous broken sign front of the door! The withered flower beds, broken windows, and the damn crows hanging on the ground near the site like it’s their own breeding ground practically screams out “I am dangerous! I definitely have ghosts inside!”.

Gintoki have heard rumors about this place. What was once a prestigious school was abandoned and turned into a hotspot of supernatural activities. Ghosts roam the place, and during the night you could hear shrill voices coming from within the school, as if those who are not from our world are holding their own classes. Rumors say that people who entered the school as part of courage tests and the like saw a sceptre of what seemed to be a ghost of a teacher walking around, as if inspecting the halls for any rule breaker. The ghost of a little girl who laughs eerily and the tortured voices of the students who were trapped when the fire broke become associated with the building as well. People whisper that the victims of the fire stayed in that school, overwhelmed by regret and anger, and whoever dares to enter their domain would be cursed to the death. 

The imposing building from hell is two stories tall. Well, actually it used to be taller than two stories, but the upper levels have been completely burned away, leaving charred wood and ruins. The only things that remain from the building are the wooden structure and red bricks that served as foundation.

Apparently, the building used to be a private school for rich kids, the posh kind of school that the common folk wouldn’t even be able to attend. However, it was abandoned soon after a great fire destroyed most of the upper levels about ten years ago. The damage from the fire was judged to be too great and instead of rebuilding the school, the school management decided to build a new school building. Now the old school building lays abandoned, and definitely haunted. During the short time it takes for Gintoki to assess the building, somehow the sun have hidden itself from the sky, and the blue sky turns into a leaden color. He could even hear thunder rumbling in the distance. 

Seriously, this building is bad news. 

“I think the fuck not.” Gintoki turns around to leave, but two pairs of arms grab him.

“Where are you going?” Kagura asks.

“I forgot to bring my harmonica. Let me grab it real quick.”

“Gin-san, we need to do this job.” Shinpachi says, reminding him of the accursed job request that led them here.

He accepted the job request because of the rather high pay it offered despite the pointless request. Some bigshot official from the government came into their humble office with a red face, asking them to search the abandoned school building for a memento from his first love. He claimed to lose it during the whole evacuation mess and promptly forgot about it after the whole ordeal. He just realized that the item was not with him years after the event, when he incidentally met his first love in a marriage meeting, who asked about its whereabouts.

He planned to marry the girl, and he needed that thing to make a good impression with her. Frankly, Gintoki didn’t care that much until the man revealed the amount he planned to spend on this request. Gintoki accepted without another thought, and now he regretted he did. How could he even guess that time that the school the man went to was the infamous haunted schoolhouse? At the rate things were going, he would be mauled to death by a vengeful spirit inside that building before he could spend the money on parfaits.

“I know! Let me get the ukulele first!”

“If you want to lie, at least keep it consistent, you stupid perm head!” Kagura kicks him.

Gintoki nearly stumbles face first into the ground and turns to face Kagura angrily. “Stop it with the violence, brat!”

Shinpachi looks at the sight of Gintoki and Kagura arguing and sighs heavily. They have not taken one step inside the building and things already go down the drain. 

“Shinpachi! Help me out here! You don’t want to enter that entrance to hell too, don’t you? Didn’t you hear the rumors about this place?” Gintoki yells.

“Frankly, I am fine either way. But we accepted the request and he even paid for our transportation and food, so we should do as he asked. And those were only rumors. No one ever actually saw a ghost here.” Shinpachi shrugs. “Come on, Kagura-chan. We should finish this task soon before the sun goes down. Let’s leave that wuss alone.”

“You can stay here if you want to, scaredy-cat Gin-chan.” Kagura sticks out her tongue as she leaves Gintoki’s side to chase after Shinpachi’s retreating back into the building, leaving the silver haired man alone.

“Have it your way then! Damn it…” Gintoki don’t like it one bit when those brats are acting that way. They are clearly looking down on him! Who did they think have been raising and feeding them all this time? The moment he turns useless, they leave him to rot alone. “Seriously, kids these days don’t understand the concept of filial piety.”

Gintoki looks up at the creepy building as he shivers. He mentally debates whether he should go after the kids to make sure they are safe, but decides against it. He couldn’t win in a fight with incorporeal things, and even if there are corporeal things in that building, he is sure Kagura and Shinpachi could handle it just fine. They have each other’s back after all.

He is about to turn around and leave the premise when he hears a rustling sound behind him.

It takes him less than three second before he launches himself into a mad dash into the building, outrunning both Kagura and Shinpachi who are walking leisurely. They look at Gintoki’s back as he runs upstairs, exchanging glances at each other with a bored expression.

“See, he can do it if he tries.”

“I don’t think he is trying anything, Kagura-chan.”

Gintoki runs until he reaches the end of the hallway. The silver haired samurai stops to catch his breath and realizes, horrified, that he is inside the building. He curses himself. 

“Ugh, since I am already inside, I should start looking for that damn present as well. What a joke.” Gintoki scratches his head. He is still pretty scared of the possibility of a ghost showing up, but the sooner he finishes the job, the sooner he could leave this place. Besides, another ghost might actually show up if he does things in a half-assed manner like this.

He searches the rooms on the second floor. The official said that he placed it in a drawer somewhere, but he was changing classes quite a lot during that particular day, so he couldn’t remember which classroom it was. Shinpachi and Kagura were probably checking the rooms on the first floor.

Gintoki feels pretty stupid. Here he is, checking the content of a trash bin filled with torn paper tests from years ago. He is 100% sure that the thing is already gone after all those years, but the official was adamant that it was still there, because he kept it safe when the fire broke out. Well, if he truly kept it safe, he would not lose it in the first place, would he? 

If anything, even if the school was burned down to embers and nothing was left, the precious memories made would still remain. As long as the two of you remained unscathed after fire took everything away from you, wasn’t that enough? 

He is standing around in an empty classroom when he hears footsteps approaching. Every hair on his body stands upright when he hears the unmistakable sound. People say that a ghost of a teacher who lost his life to the fire still roamed the place, looking for any rule breaker. Do breaking and entering, as well as snooping around the place like this count as rule breaking? Gintoki weighs his chance, it is either hiding somewhere or escaping through the door and hoping that he could outrun the vengeful spirit.

_ ‘No! Too risky! That spirit will find me if I stay here!’  _ Gintoki thinks helplessly. Then, he sees the windows. Ghosts or broken bones? The answer is easy. 

Gintoki opens the window and is about to jump when he hears the classroom door swing open violently and a familiar voice calls out.

“You are under arrest! Drop your weapons and quietly surrender yourself!”

Brandishing his katana with a fearsome oni-like expression, it is no other than the Demonic Vice Chief, Hijikata Toushirou. When he sees Gintoki about to jump from the window, his jaw drops and the cigarette on his mouth falls to the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing!”

“What, it was just Oogushi-kun after all. What are you doing here?” Gintoki breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Who the hell is Oogushi! And that’s my line. What are you doing here?”

“Just searching for an entrance to Laputa.”

“You won’t go up, if anything you will go down!”

Gintoki steps down from the windowsill, coughing and feigning ignorance. “Well, I am done now. Are you happy now?”

“Hardly. The fact that you are here means that you will interfere with our job sooner or later. You need to leave this place.” Hijikata lits up a new cigarette as he frowns at Gintoki, who is picking his nose with a bored look.

“Don’t tell me what to do, mayora. It’s the same for me too, you know? I am working here. You are the one interfering with my job. Go away. This ghost-infested dark lair is too much for weaklings like you to handle.”

“Oh? And a coward like you is fit for it? Come to think of it, I was about to enter the building with my men, and I heard someone screaming bloody murder and running away like they saw the Devil himself. I wonder who that was.”

Gintoki’s face reddens. So that mysterious rustling voice was the Shinsengumi? However, Gintoki refuses to admit defeat here. He absolutely refuses to lose to Hijikata. “That’s not me. I don’t know that guy. I don’t get scared. I have never been scared in my life before. I eat evil spirits for breakfast.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” Hijikata exhales the smoke as it rises to the ceiling. Gintoki finds the way Hijikata presses the end of the cigarette to his mouth oddly distracting and it annoys him.

“Don’t smoke indoors, you thug. We are in school, for fuck’s sake.”

“Abandoned school, to be precise. No teacher will send me to the counselor’s office if I smoke here.”

“You will start another fire again. Smoking is bad y’know? You might burn that precious V-shaped straight hair of yours.” Gintoki says in mock concern.

Hijikata looks at him, annoyed. “Look, asshole, I really don’t have time for you right now. I am in the middle of a job here. The exit is downstairs, or if you prefer the window, it’s to your right.”

“I am in the middle of a job too, genius. Or else I won’t suffer your annoying face here.”

“Oh? What kind of job made you risk it all coming here in the first place? Probably a dumb one like a lost cat or something.” 

Suddenly Gintoki remembers the job request in the first place and grimaces. “We are looking for a hand knitted muffler.”

“Somehow it’s dumber than what I expected.” Hijikata snorts.

“Don’t laugh! A big shot official from the Bakufu asked us to do it! In a way, we are no different in that we are serving the Bakufu!”

“Spin it however you like, it’s not the same. Catching terrorists and looking for mufflers are clearly different.”

“This muffler is not the same with any old muffler! You see, Yumi-chan from Class A knitted this one wholeheartedly for her first boyfriend Akkun! Even though it was her first time and her fingers were constantly pricked by needles, she still did it! Romantic, right?”

“Idiot. How many years have it been since the school was burned down? That thing’s no longer here. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, doing this at your age?”

Gintoki throws his arms in despair. “I know, right! Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this job! What the hell is wrong with the request this time!”

Hijikata simply watches Gintoki slowly losing it as he smokes his cigarette. It is like looking at a clown show for free.

“He is so detached from reality that it’s not funny! Look at me! My own school was burned but you didn’t see me running around searching for sentimental crap like that.”

Hearing that makes Hijikata momentarily freeze. He feels his face muscles slowly turning to form a frown. “Your school... what?” 

“I said it was burned.”

“No, I wasn’t talking about that. You went to school? I thought you can’t read.”

“What the hell? I am different from a certain ruffian from the country. I was educated in the noble arts of sword and words.” Gintoki clicks his tongue in impatience.

“You probably slept through class, you dimwit. Give me the seven times table.”

“Seven times table!” As he says that, Gintoki grabs Hijikata and slams his face to the table seven times.

“What kind of education did you go through?!”

* * *

After the whole ordeal in the classroom, the pair finds themselves arguing as they walk down the ruined hallway. Neither side refuses to leave, so they stick together. The usual pattern for the two of them. Gintoki couldn’t fathom why fate finds it so funny to stick him together with the one guy he can’t not clash with. He is literally incapable of being in the same room with Hijikata without starting a fight over a petty thing.

They are so different, yet so similar. Their values are the same, but the way they try to uphold it couldn’t be any more unalike. He is the mayo freak, and Gintoki is the sweet tooth. Hijikata makes rules, Gintoki breaks them just by existing. Hijikata’s hair is sleek and straight, Gintoki’s perm makes him think that being bald probably isn’t that bad. 

“What a joke. Why do I have to be stuck with you?” Gintoki says, exasperated.

“That’s my line.” 

He is losing his mind. Gintoki suddenly remembers that night when Zura accused him of liking Hijikata. As usual, that long-haired idiot was wrong.  _ Me? Liking him? _ He just hates Hijikata’s mayo-filled guts. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no other way to explain the irritating thumping on his chest when he saw Hijikata in that classroom other than that. 

If he has to admit, yeah he does think that Hijikata looks good. Sexy even. He knows how to notice good looking people, he is not blind. It is normal to notice a good-looking man, right? Other than that, he couldn’t find anything good about the dark haired man. He is so blunt and serious, a stickler for the rules, has weird food preferences, and he just looked so neat and composed and perfect and it annoys him.

That’s why Gintoki picks a fight with him whenever he sees him. It is not his fault the bastard is just so easy to rile up. He likes seeing him flustered and lose his composure when the dark haired man is with him. 

_ ‘You don’t know how to talk to your crush so you insult them and get into arguments with them and your sugar ridden brain thinks that somehow you are making progress.’ _

All of the potential ghosts to haunt this place, and the one who whispers in his ear is Zura. He really needs to dump Katsura’s ass into a river.

“Shh.” 

Hijikata stops walking and beckons him to stop. Gintoki follows suit.

“Why did you stop?”

“I heard something.” Hijikata’s face turns pale.

“Well? That was probably your terrorists, go catch ‘em all.”

“No… it sounded like a little girl singing.”

Great, a classic horror encounter. Gintoki finds himself regretting ever coming here for the hundredth time. But he is not one to go down without a fight. He doesn't want to look like a wimp in front of Hijikata.

“I didn’t hear anything. Did you really hear it?”

“I heard it clearly. Who was that?”

“Probably someone from the choir club. This is a school after all.” Gintoki says. He really doesn’t like where this conversation is headed.

“Why would someone practice their singing in an abandoned school?”

“Unless the terrorist is a little girl, there is no way anyone could be here other than choir club members who are practicing for the city competition right?” 

“Are you stupid? Even if this school had a choir club, it would already be gone for years.” Hijikata answers stiffly. No matter how the Yorozuya try to gloss it over, the two of them knows what it means when you hear a creepy little girl singing in a place like this.

“M-maybe it was just Kagura. She likes to sing, y’know? She can be such a kid sometimes.” Gintoki laughs.

When he hears Gintoki’s fair reasoning, Hijikata finds himself agreeing for once. “Y-yeah, maybe it was just the kid from your place singing. Children are mischievous like that.” 

“I know, right? The other time she broke the TV because it refused to turn on. Broke it in two. What a handful kid.”

“No, I think that was your negative influence turning her into a little demon.”

The atmosphere turns to normal slowly. The two of them are going to start walking again when the singing returns. This time, Gintoki hears it clearly and notices something. It is not Kagura’s voice. As if Kagura’s natural tone-deafness could produce this high and chilling melody.

_ “Kagome, kagome, the bird in the cage.” _

“Hijikata-kun. Did you hear that?”

“Y-yeah.”

The haunting voice comes from behind them. It is as if lightning crashed on them. Colors drain from their faces as they exchange horrified glances with one another. Is it just their feeling, or does the hallway suddenly get colder all of a sudden? Are their eyes playing tricks on them, or does the already scarce lighting on this place suddenly turn dimmer? 

“ _ When will it come out? In the night of dawn.” _

“It fucking came out.” Gintoki says in a low voice, panicking.

“We need to get the hell out of here. On my signal, we run.” Hijikata whispers back. Gintoki nods.

_ “The crane and turtle slipped.” _

“Come on, Hijikata-kun, the song is almost finished now. We are going to slip like the crane and turtle soon.”

“Three- two-”

_ “Who is behind you now?” _

“ONE! NOW!”

Gintoki and Hijikata break into a sprint and run across the corridor, screaming like mad men. They don’t even stop one second to look behind them. There is only thing they need to do: get the fuck out. 

“Where the hell is the stairs?!” Hijikata yells.

“I don’t know any flying shit about this place!” Gintoki barks back.

“We can’t stay here any longer!” 

The longer they spend running around like wild geese like this, the higher the chance that demonic entity could find them and skin them alive.

“Let’s just get a place to hide for now!” Gintoki makes a sharp turn and opens a random door. Hijikata follows him inside, closing the door with him.

The room happens to be a locker room. Sturdy metallic lockers line up in rows, old but clearly usable and well-kept. Hijikata glares at the lockers. Weird. Why are the lockers in an abandoned school showing signs of use? Actually, not only the lockers, the room displays traces of people in there. The naked eye couldn’t see it, but for someone who have been in the investigation business for a long time, he could see the awkwardly cleaned remnants of things belonging to a group of people. Odd placement of the posters, uneven dust, lockers locked by padlocks, tobacco droppings on the floor…

No doubt about it. The terrorists he is chasing are using this room, and probably even the whole school, as a hideout. Do they take advantage of the ghost stories to make sure no one comes here? No, it is possible the whole thing is fabricated in the first place.

“Not bad at all.” Hijikata says softly. He walks further into the room and opens a random locker door, smirking when he sees katanas and other assortments of weapons inside.

“News flash, peeping into other people’s lockers is considered to be very rude.” Gintoki’s monotone voice calls out.

“Shut up, I am doing my work. Looks like we were deceived.” Hijikata says as he holds out a recording device. He presses the play button and the unmistakable bone-chilling voice of a little girl laughing rings out.

Gintoki groans. “Seriously? Let me go out there and give them my piece of mind.”

“No, you don’t. The Shinsengumi don’t come here just to arrest them, we need to get evidence for their crimes and what they are planning. I am going to check some more.” Hijikata continues to shift through the lockers methodically as Gintoki observes him. 

Gintoki himself doesn’t realize yet how his eyes glue themselves to Hijikata’s figure. It just seems so natural that he doesn’t notice it. Gintoki watches the expressions flashing on Hijikata’s face as he reads the contents of a note and the way his face strains when he tries to get a stuck locker open. It is mildly amusing, in a way.

“If you are so bored, why don’t you help me open this one?” Hijikata asks, panting.

“Just slash it open or something. Is that sword on your waist a decoration?”

“And then they would know that someone was here and run away with the evidence, idiot.”

“Pretty sure they already knew we were here. We were not exactly quiet.”

“And whose fault do you think that was?” 

Gintoki is about to retort when they hear another footsteps. At least five to six people are walking outside, talking about something. Their voices sound rough and impatient.

“That’s them. We need to hide.” Hijikata grabs Gintoki’s collar and pulls him along.

“What the hell? It would be faster to beat them up and force them to talk!”

“There are procedures for everything, rotten perm head!” Hijikata whispers urgently. He opens an empty locker and shoves Gintoki in. “Go inside!”

“Are you crazy?!” Gintoki tries to yell, but Hijikata puts his hand in front of his mouth, silencing him.

“I have been tailing this Joui rebel group for weeks, and if I lose them because of you, you will be the one sent to prison!”

“That doesn’t make sense! What kind of cop are you?!” Gintoki shakes off Hijikata’s hand, but his protests are cut short when they hear the footsteps stopping right outside the door. Hijikata clicks his tongue and enters the locker. Their locker door closes just in time as the room door swings open.

Gintoki’s mouth opens dumbly as he feels Hijikata settling beside him in the tiny locker. The locker is tall enough for them to stand comfortably, but not exactly built to fit two adults inside. He finds himself face-to-face with the Shinsengumi vice commander, their similar height causes their faces to be mere inches away. Well, at least he feels like they are inches away. The locker is dark and he could just barely make out the outlines of Hijikata’s face. 

What even is this situation.

“So cramped…” 

“We are two grown men in a tiny locker, genius. Of course it’s cramped! Why did you enter my locker, go enter yours!” Gintoki whispers back.

“I didn’t have time!” Hijikata retorts. “Also don’t talk! Your stinky milk breath is ruining the air!”

“What did you say? You smell like tobacco, I can see smoke coming out of your nose!”

“Shh!” Once again, Hijikata puts his hand in front of Gintoki’s mouth, who struggles in annoyance. “Don’t let them know we’re here.”

Hijikata is absorbed in observing the men from the tiny gaps on the locker door. Gintoki couldn’t see what the men outside are doing, probably some shady Joui rebels stuff. He could hear voices talking about attacking some Bakufu office tomorrow to demand the release of their comrades in prison as well as the meticulous details of their plan, but frankly it is not his business. So Gintoki’s mind wonders…

He notices the frankly awkward predicament they are in. Two grown men, stuck inside a locker, bodies pressing together, and their faces so close it takes less than a heartbeat to bring their lips crashing. Hijikata isn’t facing him, however, instead he looks outside with utmost concentration. 

Even with the dim lighting, Gintoki could make out the finer details of Hijikata’s face and it frustrates him that he actually thinks Hijikata looks quite sexy in that angle. His straight dark hair looks soft to touch and metallic blue eyes full of determination, those downright kissable lips… The way his neck is hidden beneath that thick cravat but Gintoki could see the hidden muscles underneath... Damn, he wants to rip that bloody thing off.

Holy shit, what is he even thinking? Gintoki mentally slaps himself. That sounds like he got it bad for the mayora! He is just thinking that Hijikata looks sexy and Gintoki is stuck in a sexy position with him so it couldn’t be helped! Hijikata is probably panicking too and is having gay thoughts like he does.

Gintoki looks up to confirm Hijikata’s flustered face, but Hijikata is still observing the rebels. There is no sign of embarrassment. The vice commander’s face is clearly on work mode.

_ ‘What the hell?’  _ Gintoki thinks, annoyed. He is trying his damnedest to avoid awkward positions, his hands oddly bent and his right leg (who was stuck between Hijikata’s legs) is numb because he doesn’t want to make this any more awkward than it already is. Hijikata is stuck in a locker with him, sharing more body heat than necessary and he doesn’t even look at him! 

He is stuck with the Gintama manga popularity poll eternal first ranker, certified hot guy, and the dangerously charming Gin-san! Surely that warrants a blush or two? But no, this mayora thinks that a bunch of mob-looking Joui rebels were more interesting.

Gintoki’s sadistic brain cooks up a plot. 

He places his hands on the locker wall behind Hijikata’s head, effectively trapping him. One of his arms blocks Hijikata’s sight and the dark-haired man suddenly turns around to face him, annoyed. The Shinsengumi vice chief is about to protest when he notices the uncomfortably close distance between their faces. Good, he finally realizes the gravity of this situation.

Gintoki smirks. Hijikata never saw a smile that looked more like bad news than the one currently on Gintoki’s face and he doesn’t like it. He realizes Gintoki’s leg is between his own, and to his horror, he feels it move upwards.

“Yorozuya, what the hell are you doing?” Hijikata whispers.

“Nothing.”

“Your leg is invading my personal space.” 

“It must be an accident. My leg is numb.”

“It is still moving.” Hijikata grits his teeth. 

“Still an accident.”

“Stop, we will get caught.” He could feel Yorozuya's body heat and their close proximity make him unable to focus on his job, or anything else.

Gintoki is having the time of his life. He is doing some minor things and Hijikata already lost his composure. He notices the red tint on Hijikata’s face as he struggles to keep a straight face. Damn, that looks slightly erotic. Gintoki pretends to fall and pushes his face forward to Hijikata, who dodges in time just like Gintoki predicted he would, and his face lands on Hijikata’s shoulder.

“Get up, idiot.” Hijikata urgently orders in a low voice.

Gintoki pretends not to hear and snuggles closer to Hijikata’s neck. He doesn’t know how much the Shinsengumi would chalk it up to mere accident, but he decides to push his luck. He could hear Hijikata’s erratic heartbeat now. 

“Sorry, that was an accident.” Gintoki murmurs, trying to hide his satisfaction. He waits for Hijikata’s response, but instead he just looks at Gintoki, red-faced and flustered. His mouth is opened, struggling to say words but ultimately isn’t able to. He really looks like someone bullied him. 

Gintoki blinks. He expected harsh rebuke and the usual comedic routine, not this surprisingly pure reaction. To his horror, Gintoki realizes that his little brother downstairs is close to waking up. No, no, no. The whole grinding thing is supposed to make Hijikata bothered, not him! Why is his little brother waking up then? If Hijikata notices it, he would be dead! It would be very awkward! 

“Stop it, they might notice us.” Hijikata finally manages to say something. His voice sounds strained.

Gintoki tries to conjure up disgusting images to distract himself from the imminent awakening of Gin Jr. but to no avail. He tries shifting away from Hijikata, at the very least, but the limited space means that there is nowhere for him to run. Hijikata notices the weird movement and tries to disentangle himself from Gintoki, but his desperate efforts do nothing but bring them closer together.

“Stop moving!” Hijikata whispers urgently.

“I am busy! Get the hell away from me!” Gintoki visualizes naked old men and Sadaharu’s humongous morning poop, anything to distract him from the body in front of him.

“There is nothing I can do! It won’t fit, you are too big!”

Gintoki feels his brain short-circuited and the attempts he made to suppress his worldly desires go away when he hears Hijikata saying that. “It could be intimidating, but I assure you it won’t hurt! Gin-san knows what he’s doing!”

“What are you talking about, dumbass?!” 

“Did you feel... anything?” Gintoki asks carefully.

“Other than annoyance? Just anger looking at you.” Hijikata answers.

Oh. What a relief. It looks like Hijikata didn’t notice the trouble downstairs. It has mostly settled down. Gintoki sighs in relief. He stops struggling and quiets down. Their position doesn't change much, still the same awkward and easily misunderstood position that looks like they are in the middle of a heated embrace. He is about to say something when he hears Hijikata.

“Did you notice that?” 

“What?”

“Why is it so quiet outside?”

_ Oh _ . Gintoki forgets that there are dangerous rebels scheming just outside. This newfound quietness doesn’t bode well.

Just as he is thinking that, the locker door swings open violently. The man who opened it sneers coldly at them as the comrades behind him unsheath their swords. Of course, their little skinship in that locker have alerted them.

“Well, well, look who we have here-” In a classic villain move, the man grins and begins taunting them, but then he realizes what the men inside the lockers are doing. He was imagining a single person, not two people, and certainly not two people who are panting and stuck in a half-embrace, looking like they are clearly doing something even more dangerous than what the rebels are planning to do.

“We are sorry to disturb your private time.” The Joui rebels bow down and close the locker door stiffly. Gintoki and Hijikata hear shuffling sounds and it looks like the rebels are about to leave the room, no doubt feeling guilty that they are intruding on a couple’s romantic escapade.

“YOU FUCKERS ARE MISTAKEN!” Hijikata burst out from the locker, flustered. “This is not what it looked like!”

“Eh? What? I thought they were clearly doing it.” Various comments could be heard from the group as Hijikata feels his face turning redder.

“Shut up! You are all under arrest!”

* * *

After they were caught, just like Gintoki predicted, it is fairly easy to round up the criminals. The Shinsengumi subordinates Hijikata took with him arrived several minutes later to clean up the mess and collect evidence, with Kagura and Shinpachi tailing them. They reported that they already found the muffler hidden in a classroom drawer on the first floor.

“Gin-san! To think that you were caught up in a mess like this… And here we thought you were skipping.” Shinpachi says.

“Are you okay, Gin-chan?” Kagura asks when she sees Gintoki’s glazed eyes.

“Yeah, I am fine.”

“What an annoying guy. Look at what you did. We were having a hard time during what was supposed to be a clean cut operation.” Hijikata approaches the trio. He already lit up another cigarette. Gintoki winces at the blatant torture and disregard of Hijikata’s lungs.

“Hijikata-san, so you were on a job here too?” Shinpachi greets Hijikata, who nods in affirmation.

“Don’t whine, damn it. You completed your job, and I completed mine.” Gintoki says. He refuses to look at Hijikata’s face, somehow embarrassed in a manner that is completely unlike him. His mind keep drifting back to the memory in that locker.

“Your job was pretty pointless.” Hijikata points out.

Gintoki groans. “All of that fuss just for a tiny present like this. Real love wouldn’t stop just because you lost something like a muffler or even a building. As long as the feeling is still there, no matter what happened, you can continue.”

“You said your school was burned down.” Hijikata says carefully in a low voice. He doesn’t know whether the kids knew about that so he plays it safe.

“It did.”

“Did you lose something in that fire?”

“Oh, many things. I lost the first porn book I found in the mountains behind the school, for example. But the most important things you could get from school, the lessons and the memories are still with me. There is nothing else I need.” 

Hijikata waits for Gintoki to continue, but he never does. Gintoki isn’t the type who liked to talk about his past. He would talk about anything and everything until his conversation partner’s ears fall off, unless it concerned his past. It took a long time before he could talk about it to anyone, even to Otose, who is the closest thing to a mother figure he has ever known in his life. He wonders why it is so easy for him to open up to Hijikata. Is it because they are so similar? 

Gintoki knows that even though they argue back and forth, even though they insult each other, even though they say that they hate each other, that they are just so similar. Even if their methods are wildly different like night and day, they just want to protect the things dear to them, no matter what. 

“Well, it was all in the past.” Gintoki suddenly says, waving his hand. “I have had enough looking at your annoying face for today, Oogushi-kun. Shinpachi, Kagura, we are leaving.”

Gintoki turns around. He could hear the unmistakable sound of Shinpachi and Kagura running after him in excitement, no doubt happy about the money they would receive from the client. Should he treat them to something later? They did find the muffler after all. He should take them to a place where they could stuff their face with food and him with booze. He really needs to forget Hijikata’s annoyingly hot flushed face from back then, or he might really turn weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch me fill this fic with every known shipping tropes under the sun. Y'all not safe from me >:)


	4. Fake relationship won't fool anyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gintoki and Hijikata masquerades as a couple to shake off Hijikata's persistent stalker.

Hijikata Toushirou is a man of many talents. He is a skilled swordsman, administrator, investigator, mayonnaise appraiser, chronic smoker, and a whole other things. He is perfectly confident in his ability to follow up through any and all kinds of messes, whether it was made by his gorilla commander or his punk subordinates. But this? Even if he has the life experience of a hundred different lifetimes, he would still be confused on what to do.

“Please go out with me!” 

“First of all… who are you?” Hijikata asks, after a long pause to gather his composure. This is all too sudden. A mysterious young girl suddenly stopped him while he was on patrol and confessed to him in broad daylight! No one could prepare him for this.

The girl in question suddenly straightens out herself. “Yes! I am Mobuko Mobumoto! Hijikata-sama, you probably don't remember, but you helped me when my purse was snatched a few weeks ago! I was amazed by your gallantry, dashing good looks, and kindness that I instantly fell in love with you! I thought, ‘ah this man is certainly my fated one’! That’s why, please go out with me! Actually, just marry me!”

Hijikata blinks and tries to process what he heard. This girl met him once, and she asked him to marry her. Hijikata tries to form a coherent thought, but it dissolves easily as he feels a big wave of migraine incoming.

“I was so intrigued by you, so I looked you up! Hijikata Toushirou, occupation: Shinsengumi vice chief. Your birthday is May 5. You are 27 years old. Your current residence is the Shinsengumi barracks. Your favorite food is mayonnaise. Your favorite cigarette brand is Mayo-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Hijikata cuts up. He feels himself shivering despite the hot midday sun blazing above the Edo skies. Not only delusional, this girl is a stalker too? A bunch of red flags keep popping up. It’s best to nip this one in the bud before it evolves into a massive problem.

“I am sorry, but I can’t go out with you.” Hijikata answers bluntly.

“Why? Is it because of your occupation? Does the Shinsengumi not allow marriages? I am fine with being a mistress! As long as I have your heart…”

“No, I mean. I just… We don’t know each other, right?”

“We can always start by dating each other! I am certain if you know me, you will fall in love with me like I do! Ah, it’s like a dream! We can do a bunch of lovey-dovey stuff together. About children, it’s got to be three, don’t you think?”

No good, this girl is off to her dreamland. She can no longer be reasoned with. Hijikata remembers the whole ordeal with Matsudaira’s daughter, and how exhausting it was for everyone involved. He needs to make sure that no such thing happens again.

“Listen here, Mobumoto-san. I will be frank with you. I can’t go out with you, at all. And it won’t change.”

The flowery atmosphere around the girl suddenly shifts to a gloomy one. “Why?”

“I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. You just know the Hijikata from your delusions.”

“Then, it’s fine if you know me, right?” 

The girl isn’t one to give up easily, Hijikata will give her that. Still, he is more annoyed than impressed. “I highly doubt that will change anything.”

“Well, it will! I will have you know, Hijikata-sama, that I know the real you! I have been looking at you these past few weeks! I know everything!”

Hijikata grimaces. He suddenly finds himself sympathizing with the Shimura older sister who is stalked by his commander. Having a stalker is tough.

“Give me one chance! I will show you the real me, and then you will fall in love with me!” 

“No, I mean…”

“Just one day! I will see you tomorrow in the North Park, 11 in the morning! I will wait for you no matter what!” And with that, the girl runs off.

Hijikata finds his massive headache growing even though its source has already run off. For the first time, he focuses on his surroundings and realizes the crowd forming around him. “Get the hell out! This is not a free show!” He yells at the nosy people, who breaks apart from the crowd while whispering something among themselves. What a joke. 

The crowd is already dispersed, except for one person. Hijikata looks up to see the remaining person, and feels his stomach churning.

There, smirking in all of his sadistic glory, is the one silver haired samurai he doesn’t want to see.

“Oi, oi, another love confession episode? Give me a break, man. We already did something like this sometimes ago, didn’t we, oh Prince of the Mayonnaise Planet? The author needs to step up the creativity and stop reusing old ideas.”

Hijikata groans. “Leave me alone, dumbass. I don’t have time to deal with you.”

“Even though I can help you?” Gintoki says, grinning his evilest grin.

“As if I would ask help from you.”

“I helped you get away nicely from that girl back then, didn’t I? The kids and I did a pretty damn good job, if you ask me.”

Even though he doesn’t want to admit, Hijikata remembers that the Yorozuya Trio did help him turn down Kuriko without making her upset, and avoiding her from experiencing a great heartbreak inadvertently saved Hijikata from being assassinated by her father.

Gintoki notices the hesitation in Hijikata’s eyes and laughs. “I have been noticing this lately, but you are awfully pure and inexperienced with love, huh? Do you need some worldly wisdom from your senior?”

“You are being awfully self confident for a man with dead fish eyes and no money.” 

“Believe me, I know more about this than a cherry boy like you. Hell, I can just smell the virginity from you.”

“Who are you calling a cherry boy! Like hell you can smell it coming from me!” Hijikata finds his face turning red as he vehemently denies Gintoki’s accusation. Gintoki looks at him with an eyebrow raised, he doesn’t anticipate that reaction.

“Hijikata-kun… Don’t tell me, you are really a virgin?” Silence. Now it’s time for Gintoki to groan. “How old are you? 27? Come on. You won’t actually turn into a wizard if you stay a virgin for 30 years, you know?”

Hijikata collects his remaining composure and tries to sound as self-assured and confident as possible. “I don’t have time for pointless pursuits like that.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, virgin.” Gintoki tones out Hijikata’s protests before continuing. “Don’t worry, Gin-san will teach everything your inexperienced ass doesn’t know about the ABCs of love.”

“Phrasing.” Hijikata finds himself embarrassed again and he grits his teeth in annoyance.

“Oh, sorry. Was that too much innuendo for your pure maidenly heart? Let’s talk somewhere else. But before that, let me borrow your phone. I have to make a call.”

* * *

And that’s how Hijikata finds himself sitting in front of the Yorozuya in a family restaurant as the silver haired man eats a large serving of parfait. He has been berating himself mentally for accepting Yorozuya's help, knowing full well it likely won’t bring him any good. And then, there’s the fact that Gintoki now knows that he is a virgin.

Being a virgin is nothing bad, Hijikata thinks. There’s nothing wrong with that. Hijikata himself knows that he is inexperienced with love. The only person he is romantically interested in was Mitsuba, but he decided against acting on his feelings and left her to pursue his bushido in Edo. And now she’s no longer here. During his years in Edo, he never thought about romance or love or anything like that, his work as the Shinsengumi vice commander is too time consuming to think about things like that, not to mention the guilt and lingering feelings he felt towards Mitsuba.

“What are you thinking about, Cherry-kata?” the familiar irritating voice suddenly interrupts his train of thoughts.

“Who are you calling Cherry-” 

“Oh! Toushi! Yorozuya! What is it that you want to talk about?” Kondou suddenly approaches their table, greeting them in his usual booming voice.

“Kondou-san! Why are you here?” Hijikata asks, surprised.

“Yorozuya asked me to come here. He called using your phone.” Kondou explains as he takes a seat beside Hijikata.

Hijikata suddenly remembers that particular exchange. “Why did you call Kondou-san here, perm head?”

“Wait, we are still one person short.” Gintoki says. He picks up his wooden sword and flicks it at the ceiling. The sword hits the ceiling with great force, and the ceiling falls down. A figure of a woman could be seen from the debris, rubbing her head. 

She is the bespectacled ninja stalker that hangs around the Yorozuya. Hijikata realizes, in horror, what the two people that Gintoki called here have in common.

“I trust you already know what is going on, you pervert kunoichi.” Gintoki says, looking down at Sarutobi on the floor.

“Yes, Gin-san! Sa-chan, your personal ninja stalker slash lover already knows everything! After all, I have been tailing you since this morning!”

Gintoki ignores her and retrieves his sword. He hails a waitress, who is looking at their table in concern and says. “Forward the damage bill to this girl here. I am sorry for the fuss. Come on, give them your money.”

“Toushi, what is going on? Why are Yorozuya and Sarutobi here?” Kondou asks him. 

Hijikata doesn’t know how to answer that question himself, but before he could answer, Gintoki already claps his hand in a self-important manner.

“Attention, everyone! The reason why we are holding this meeting is to help the poor, confused Hijikata-kun who is dealing with his stalker and doesn’t know what to do with her. To understand the inner workings of a stalker’s mind, the Sakata Production calls upon two of the most formidable, stubborn, and shameless stalkers in Edo: Kondou Isao and Sarutobi Ayame! A round of applause, if you will!”

Dead silence. Hijikata buries his face in his hands. Kondou looks at him wide-eyed in surprise and Sarutobi snuggles closer to Gintoki, who is still waiting for that applause.

“Wait, wait, wait, Yorozuya, did you say Toushi has a stalker?”

“That’s right, Gorilla. That mayora somehow gains himself a stalker and long story short, he doesn’t know how to deal with her because she lives in her own dreamland where she is in love with her mayo prince and vice versa. She won’t take rejection and forces him to meet with her tomorrow to, in her words, know her better.”

“That sounds tough.” Kondou says.

Sarutobi laughs derisively. “Listen to yourself, you stalker primate.”

“Well, you listen to yourself, stalker glasses!”

“That’s rich coming from you, do you have any idea how much you annoy Otae-san?”

“Well, how about you? Constantly hanging around Yorozuya and being a SM mascot too! Think about the negative influence you bring to Shinpachi-kun and China girl!”

“How about you being a negative influence to your subordinates? What are you doing, leading a police organization with a criminal record on your name?!”

“I am not a criminal. I simply protect Otae-san from the shadows, a silent protector!”

“Well, I am Gin-san’s girlfriend so it makes sense that I follow him everywhere, right? Right, Gin-san?”

Ignoring the two of them, Gintoki continues on. “And there you have it! Since the two of you are stalkers yourselves, could you give him pointers on how to not end up with someone like you two tailing him?”

Sarutobi and Kondou stop their argument and look at each other before saying in unison. “Just reject her.”

“As if it’s that easy!” Gintoki slams their faces to the table.

“Yorozuya, asking for help from these people won’t do us any good.” Hijikata says.

“You are right. It is my miscalculation. Okay, the meeting's over. That was unproductive.”

Sarutobi suddenly stands up. “No, Gin-san! I can help you! This gorilla only brings you down, but I can offer a myriad of helpful advice.” 

“Oh? What is it?” Gintoki asks.

“Well, the best way to reject someone is by showing them that you can’t be with them. You can make up a million excuses, but nothing is better than showing that you can’t be with them, because you are already with someone else.”

Gintoki makes an enlightened face. “I see. That makes sense. What do you think?”

“It makes sense, but I don’t have that kind of someone else.” Hijikata replies.

“Toushi, your way of thinking is too shallow. Even if you don’t have anyone, you just need to make sure the other party believes that you have one. Just ask a random girl to help play the part.” As Kondou says that, he looks at Sarutobi.

Sarutobi glares back and forth at Kondou and Hijikata. “No. Never in a million years. My heart is Gin-san’s only. Even if it’s for a play like this, this is just too cruel!”

“This is not a SM play.” Gintoki sighs. “Anyways, the problem is that the girl has been monitoring you for weeks. Suddenly introducing a random girl as your girlfriend just screams suspicious.”

“Damn, I forgot about that part. Do you think she’s here too, right now?” Hijikata feels the headache coming back.

“I don’t think so. Small relief.” Gintoki answers.

“That’s good to hear. So now we are back on deciding who is the one to be the fake lover?” Kondou asks.

“Well, like Gin-san said, it can’t be any random girl without prior connection. Do you have any women you are close with?” Sarutobi turns around to ask Hijikata.

“None.” Hijikata answers.

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?!”

“You know, a man is fine too.” Kondou suddenly says. The three of them turn around to face him, surprised. “What? I mean, it will probably work better. She will realize that Toushi is not into girls and he is happy now with his boyfriend.”

“I am impressed, Gorilla. Even that small brain of yours can work out good ideas once in a while.” Sarutobi nods her head in agreement.

The two stalkers hum in agreement, but Hijikata is shocked by the idea. “Wait a minute! Why do I need to go out with a guy?!”

“And now we’re back to the topic of who is going to be the fake lover. I am sure I can find someone with enough free time from the Shinsengumi to be the dummy, but if the girl finds out about that, she will probably think that Toushi forces the Shinsengumi member to help him fool her. We need someone outside the Shinsengumi.”

“Oi, don’t ignore me, Kondou-san!”

“So, a non Shinsengumi member, with a considerable amount of contact to the Vice Commander, passable chemistry, and free enough to act out a boyfriend role in short notice… Ah.” Sarutobi suddenly stops talking and looks at Gintoki. 

“What.” Gintoki stops his parfait eating ritual, feeling a bad premonition. Something bad is going to happen.

Kondou bows his head down. “Yorozuya, you are the only one.”

“NO WAY!” Two voices could be heard screaming.

“Kondou-san, what are you talking about?!”

“Sa-chan, what the hell?!”

“We have no other choice, Toushi!”

“I am sorry, Gin-san, but you are the only one I am thinking about! Ah, I am always thinking about you…”

“Think about it logically, Toushi! Do you have another choice? Another man to fill out the role perfectly? We need to wake that girl up from her delusions once and for all, before it grows into a huge problem! You just need to show Yorozuya once to her and she will realize that her love is unrequited.”

“As much as it pains me, I will quietly surrender this time because it’s just a fake relationship. But don’t think that you can use this to get closer with Gin-san, you hear?!”

“What are you even insinuating, you pervert ninja? I don’t recall agreeing to this crazy scheme!” Gintoki yells.

“Me neither! Are we seriously that out of options? Can’t we just arrest the girl once and for all?”

Gintoki glares at the dark haired samurai. “In the first place, no one would even look at me with this nicotine freak and think that we are a couple!” 

“To be honest, the two of you do have insanely good chemistry together…” the gorilla-like man coughs, averting his eyes. His words spark another bout of angry exchanges.

“I absolutely refuse this!” Hijikata exclaims.

“There’s no way in hell I would agree to this. Unless this asshole himself bows down and begs for me to become his boyfriend, I’ll refuse!”

“As if I would ever do that, stupid perm head!”

“Toushi, calm down! Calm down, I say! we don’t have another choice! We are short in both time and hands!” Kondou pleads as he stops Hijikata from unsheathing his sword.

Hearing his commander’s words, Hijikata calms down. He has been thinking this over, and as much as he wants to refuse, he realizes that he doesn’t have another solution. The girl this time doesn’t look ditzy enough that she can be fooled with ‘I am actually a prince from another planet’ strategy. There’s no other choice.

And then, with a heavy heart, he finds himself facing the Yorozuya and bows. “Please. Be my boyfriend for a day.”

The Yorozuya looks at him like he grows two heads and an extra pair of legs. “What the fuck.”

* * *

The next day, precisely 11 in the morning in the North Park, two men dressed in matching white and black kimono are standing around awkwardly in front of the large elephant statue that serves as the landmark in the park. They are standing together, but their gazes adamantly refuse to meet. Rather, they absolutely refuse to acknowledge each other’s presence. Anyone who sees them claims they can see the awkwardness with naked eye.

“Why are we doing this?” Gintoki asks. He is looking straight ahead, refusing to look at Hijikata, who is trying to light a cigarette to calm his nerves.

“We have a mission.”

“But why me?”

The cigarette refuses to catch fire, to the frustration of the smoker. “You know very well why you were chosen. Don’t talk. You are making me angrier with each passing second.”

“Huh?” Gintoki turns around angrily, finally looking at Hijikata. “Don’t make it out like you are the only one suffering, you stupid mayora! I am the one helping you here! You should be thankful I am wasting my day off to do this farce!”

“What time off, you unemployed bum? The one who wasted his precious day off for this is me! Apologize to my free time!”

Gintoki grabs the black haired man’s kimono collar violently. “Oi, Hijikata-kun, you are being awfully impertinent. Your life is on my hands, you know? There is a reason why we are standing around awkwardly in public wearing matching kimono like this!”

Hijikata glares at Gintoki. They are indeed wearing matching kimono, courtesy of Kondou’s totally insane idea to make them look more like a couple and less like arch rivals. As if the idea is not cringy enough, they are wearing each other’s color. Gintoki is wearing a black kimono with blue sash and himself wearing a white kimono and red sash. If anyone they know sees them like this, Hijikata would make sure this would be the last thing they ever see.

“If not for this, I would never be caught dead going on a date with you.” Hijikata spits out.

“Don’t say shit like that! You will raise romantic flags, stupid nicotine addict.” Gintoki shivers.

“Shut up, idiot. Look, we just need to do this for 15 minutes. She shows up, I show you off, you tell her off, and then she leaves. After that we’re done.”

“Brace yourself, Hijikata-kun, even mere 15 minutes of Gin-san’s time is expensive.”

“What, so you actually do escort work too?” Hijikata rolls his eyes. “Hold on. The girl is coming here. Get ready.” 

“Hijikata-sama! Sorry for making you wait.” The girl hurriedly approaches them in front of the elephant statue. No doubt she was running all the way here. The girl bows in front of Hijikata, looking hopeful. However, that hopeful gaze lasts only for an instant before she notices Gintoki beside Hijikata. “And this person is...?” 

_It’s showtime_ , Hijikata grits his teeth. He just needs to say the magic words once and this farce will be over. “Ah, this? He is my boyfriend.”

“So you already have a boyfriend…?” The girl, Mobumoto, asks slowly. Her eyes widen as she looks at Gintoki, who is smiling.

“There you have it, young lady. I am sorry but your feelings will never be requited in this lifetime. After all, Toushirou is mine.” As he says that, Gintoki puts his arm around Hijikata and pulls him closer. Hijikata resists the urge to break that arm and puts on his happy face.

“I don’t believe it… There is no way you have a boyfriend I don’t know about!” There is it. The denial. Hijikata is waiting for that explosive denial to once and for all extinguish it.

“We are practically strangers. I don’t need strangers to know about my relationship status.” Hijikata explains, trying not to notice Gintoki’s hand on his shoulder.

Mobumoto inspects Gintoki from head to toe, her eyes blazing. “I remember you! Sakata Gintoki-san, owner of Yorozuya Gin-chan! You sometimes meet Hijikata-sama in town and bother him, insulting or picking fights with him and whatnots. If anything, you looked like you were harassing him! How could you date a scum like this, Hijikata-sama?”

“You know what they say, enemies to lovers and all that? Opposites attract? Anyway, those fights are just foreplay to spice things up. After that, we always fuck like rabbits, right Honey?” Gintoki laughs in a totally not suspicious way, patting Hijikata’s shoulder.

Hijikata tries his hardest not to gag. “Yeah, darling. Honestly, this guy likes hardcore stuff. We are really, really, really in love. In fact, we are going to go on a date right now.”

“There you have it! I am sorry, Mobumoto-san, but can you please leave this guy alone? I would be bothered if someone is aiming for my boyfriend, you see. I get it why you would like this man, since he is just so amazing and all that, but he’s mine. Hands off.” Gintoki says as he finally pulls Hijikata closer, embracing him from behind. His head peeks out from behind Hijikata’s head, grinning lazily at Mobumoto as if to show his possession.

Mobumoto hangs her head in silence, too shocked to argue. Hijikata is getting goosebumps all over. He needs this girl to admit defeat and leave them before he loses his composure and throws the Yorozuya across the street.

“I don’t believe it! No matter how you look at it, there’s just no way this is real!” Mobumoto screams out in despair.

“This is reality, face it.” Gintoki says plainly.

“Then, you need to prove it.” The girl looks up at Gintoki, challenging him. “You are going on a date, aren’t you? Where are you going?”

“Where, you say…” Gintoki suddenly stops, trying to think of something. Where do couples go on a date? Racking his brain for a suitable answer and finally finding it, he turns around to face Mobumoto with a proud smile. “We are going to a hotel.”

Hijikata suddenly slaps him. “Darling, there is a fly on your face. I got it for you.”

“Is that so… Thank you for your consideration, honey.”

Mobumoto gasps in shock. “I can’t believe it. Hijikata-sama, this promiscuous man is dangerous! To think he is trying to do something so sinful with you in the morning! He needs to be locked up!”

Hijikata finds himself agreeing with the stalker girl. “Oh, come on. This is normal for him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to defend me, honey?”

“At first, I am worried about you trying to fool me, but now I can see it. Even if you are really dating him, that man is dangerous! He is just dating you for your body! Scums like him can’t be trusted!”

“What are you saying, Mobumoto-san. There is no way I am taking advantage of Toushirou, right?” Gintoki interjects, trying to smooth over the misunderstanding. 

“If what you said just now was real, then prove it to me! Prove to me that you are seriously dating Hijikata-sama.” The stalker girl suddenly throws an insane idea. “I will inspect you on your date. If I see you behaving scandalously, I will not hesitate to call the police on you."

Gintoki looks at the girl as if she’s crazy. Hijikata was not lying when he said that this girl is delusional. “Have it your way. Two conditions: Do not get closer to us. Stay behind us at all times. This is still our date you are intruding.”

The girl nods. Gintoki and Hijikata exchange a tired look and sigh. They move away from their spot in front of the elephant statue and walk towards the main street. They are a few meters away from the girl when Hijikata finally explodes. “Why did you tell her we are going to a hotel, idiot?! Look at the mess you made! Now our 15 minutes are stretched out indefinitely!”

“It can’t be helped. I haven’t been on an authentic date since forever! Most of my encounters are casual.” Gintoki whispers.

“You are a real scum, you know?” Hijikata spits out. 

“Well, since you are a gentleman and so knowledgeable about this, why don’t you tell where couples go on a date?”

“Why are you asking me that? Obviously, they do that, that, and that!” 

“What is that? You said ‘that’ three times so now I am confused! Oi, this is too annoying! Let’s just go to a hotel!” Gintoki throws up his arms in desperation over their situation.

An old woman suddenly bumps at Gintoki. The sudden movement causes the fake couple to stop walking. “Oh, I am sorry, dear. I am in a hurry because I have lunch date with my husband at the Higanbana Hotel. I heard they have a discount for couples today.” The old woman laughs kindly, winking at Gintoki before excusing herself. Gintoki’s eyes glint in realization.

“Nice assist, Sa-chan!” Gintoki whispers. The old woman waves her hand in farewell.

Hijikata looks at the frail back of the retreating old woman, surprised. “That was Sarutobi?” 

“I had her and Gorilla serve as support during this entire mission. Even if we make a mess out of everything, they will pull through for us.” Gintoki explains. Hijikata looks at him in disbelief, looks like this asshole actually takes this request seriously.

Following Sarutobi’s advice, the fake couple enters Higanbana Hotel with Mobumoto tailing behind them. Hijikata tells the receptionist about their intent to make use of the couple discount in the hotel restaurant. Hijikata has prepared himself for awkward questions, but the receptionist just nods warmly and gives them direction to the restaurant. Gintoki and Hijikata enter a posh dining area filled with couples. The decoration is arranged to give off a romantic atmosphere, but it goes overboard and has crossed into garish territory. It looks like they are going to eat in a heart-shaped room filled with heart balloons and heart accessories, surrounded by trashy romantic songs and trashy lovey-dovey couples. Simply great.

“What do you want to eat, honey? They have Sweet Love Parfait, Burning Kiss Chocolate Lava, Pink Heart Strawberry Cake… whoa, they have it all here.” Gintoki whistles appreciatively.

“What is up with that naming sense?” Hijikata sighs. They finally shake off Mobumoto’s pursuit, who is now looking at them from another table. “Pick anything, I am not hungry.”

“Sweet. You’ll be paying, right? Excuse me, miss! Can I have three Sweet Love Parfaits? And a cup of coffee or whatever for this guy here.”

“Coming right up, sirs!” The waitress scribbles down their orders in her notebook and leaves their table.

Hijikata frowns. “You will die eating all that sugar.”

“Then I will die doing what I love most.” Gintoki yawns. “Come on, do something about that gloomy face. We need to play the lover act seriously or that girl won’t give up. Act like you are madly in love with me and are just so happy to be here with me you could die.”

“As if, stupid. Going on a date with you just sucks every excitement out of my body.”

“Harsh.”

Their orders have arrived, and Gintoki wastes no time before devouring the three parfaits like a starving man. Hijikata sips on his mayonnaise topped coffee in silence. After Gintoki finishes his parfaits, Hijikata calls a waitress for their bill.

“I am sorry, but we can’t hand you the bill just yet.” The waitress bows deeply.

“Why?” Hijikata asks.

“Dear customers, you are going to ask for the couple discount, right? That discount is not given freely, you need to do a challenge provided by the hotel before you can use it. The hotel manager imposed this rule to make sure no fake couples will try to take advantage of the discount. Not only discount, couples who do remarkably well will be given a present too.”

Hijikata feels another headache incoming. It is probably easier to just pay it all without discount. But, before he could ask for the normal bill, Gintoki with all of his cheapskate mentality cuts in. “It’s okay. I can overcome any challenge you throw at us if I am together with my honey.”

“How wonderful!” The waitress claps her hands in amazement. She motions for Gintoki and Hijikata to stand up from their seats and follow her. “Then, please come this way.”

The pair finds themselves on a little heart shaped stage in the middle of the room. 

A briefs-wearing middle aged man with moustache and top hat greets them. “Welcome, blessed couple, to our hotel’s love challenge! Spin this wheel, if you will, and complete the challenge to obtain the couple discount! Do well, and you will be granted a gift from the gods of love! All in the name of love!”

Cheers erupt around them. Hijikata squints at the wheel, and sees words like _‘kiss’_ , ‘ _make out’_ , ‘ _discard a piece of clothing_ ’, and ‘ _get the home run and never look back_ ’. “Oi, Yorozuya! Are you serious about this? They are just going to make us do a live porn show for a 30% discount! Just how much of a cheapskate are you?!”

“Shut up! Civil servants like you don’t know how hard it is for poor people like me!” Gintoki yells. “Bring it on, hotel manager! I recognize that dirty briefs anywhere! Tell us your verdict!”

“Oho, a brave soul. Let the wheel spin!” The hotel manager orders. The wheel spins on and on. Hijikata looks at the wheel worriedly, he certainly doesn’t want to do weird shit together with Yorozuya on stage just to pay for three parfaits he didn’t even eat. He prays with all of his might that it will end up somewhere normal. And then the wheel stops.

_‘Tell us the things you love about your partner’._

Hijikata thanks the heavens. Around him, he could hear sounds of disappointment and insults like ‘not spicy enough’ or ‘this is not a shoujo manga’. Okay, looks like this hotel’s discount is simply a scam to get free shows. Hijikata makes a mental note to have Yamazaki stake out this place before arresting them all.

“There you go, blessed couple! Tell us what you like about each other!” 

“The things I love about my honey?” Gintoki ponders with his eyes closed. Then, his eyes suddenly snap open. “I love how straightforward he is. I love the way he upholds his own justice yadda yadda. But most importantly, I love his looks! He is just so handsome and sexy, right? His face makes you want to bully him, right? Like, you just want to tease him until he can’t take it anymore and beg you to stop but you know he doesn’t want you to stop. I love seeing him all teary-eyed and desperate like that, knowing that he can’t do anything about it. It just makes me want to lock him up and see how far I can tame him, you know? And I love seeing him suck out that mayonnaise bottle like-”

“Okay, that’s enough rated content from the silver boyfriend! Let us hear what the commentators think!”

“Why does this place have its own commentators?!” Hijikata retorts violently. His ears are ringing and his face is red. Does the bastard Yorozuya really think of him like that? Even for a joke, that’s going too far! Hijikata throws a dirty glare at Gintoki, who is picking his nose nonchalantly.

“That silver haired dude knows how to talk dirty!”

“Is he a god? A god from Planet Sadist?”

“He’s thinking with his dick!”

“And the score is?!” The hotel manager prompts. All commentators hold up their own sign. Surprisingly enough, every sign shows a similar score. Pure love 0/10. Horniness 10/10.

“Tch, can’t they even feel the love radiating from me when I said that?” Gintoki complains. Hijikata resists the urge to throw that annoying face down the stairs.

“What about you, dark boyfriend?” The hotel manager suddenly turns around to Hijikata, who is trying to calm his inner demons. “What do you like about your boyfriend?”

Hijikata practically spits out the words. “He is annoying. He always gets on my nerves. But, he always helps me. Even though sometimes he acts like he doesn’t care, I can always rely on him. Also, he is… nice. I like that part of him. His hair is fluffy too. But there’s nothing else I like about him. He’s the worst.”

“Hijikata-kun, what are you doing? You are blowing our chance!” Gintoki whispers, panicking. Hijikata pretends not to hear him.

“What do you make of that, commentators?” 

“Compared to his boyfriend, the other dude is just too shy? Or do they call it tsundere these days?"

“You idiot, that’s the charm. Do-S and tsundere are bound to create nice reactions.”

“I love how you can see that the guy is just bluffing!”

The commentators hold up their signs. 10/10 pure love and 0/10 horniness.

“Oh! If you add that up, you get two perfect tens! Amazing!” The hotel manager claps (“I am pretty sure math doesn’t work like that.” Hijikata retorts under his breath.). Everyone in the restaurant joins and soon the room is filled with clapping sounds. “Wonderful! As thanks for showing both deranged and pure forms of love, let me award you with the discount and a special prize! A Justaway plushie!”

“Wait, the prize is a Justaway plushie?” Gintoki screams in despair, looking at the Justaway plushie that was shoved to him.

“We never promised a grand prize like free stay or whatever, did we?” The hotel manager answers. “Take it or leave it, pervert.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a man in briefs and top hat and nothing else!”

Before Gintoki could continue his argument, Hijikata drags him away. “We are leaving, perm head. I can’t stand to be here any longer.”

Outside the restaurant, they finally see Mobumoto again. Hijikata is about to clear the misunderstanding when the girl bows before them. “I am sorry. I thought you were going to do something scandalous in the hotel, but it turns out you were just eating in the restaurant. I left earlier because they wouldn’t serve single customers. I never thought you are going to a restaurant with a couples discount.”

“Well, what else can I do? I am saving up all my money to buy you a nice ring one day, Toushirou.”

 _This bastard is really running his mouth, saying whatever he pleases_ , Hijikata’s brows twitch. “You don’t have to do that, Gintoki. I am fine with everything as long as it’s from you.”

“However, I am still not convinced because I wasn’t able to see you two behaving like a couple. I am going to inspect some more.” Mobumoto suddenly interrupts their disgusting talk about rings.

This girl is stubborn. Hijikata wants nothing more than to go back to the barracks and rest, but if he doesn’t stop that stubborn girl from delusioning about himself, she would likely follow him back to the barracks and join Kondou and Sarutobi in Edo Stalkers Alliance. But before worrying about that, there is something he needs to ask Yorozuya.

“Was that real?” Hijikata says suddenly. Gintoki looks at him, picking his nose.

“As if, idiot. I was talking about the bombshell pretty lady sitting behind you. She was a real beauty, let me tell you. I was thinking of her.” Gintoki puts on a dreamy face.

“Well, I wasn’t thinking of you either. I was talking about Kondou-san.”

“Your own boss and father figure? Do you have a daddy issue?” Gintoki groans. “Speaking about Gorilla, I received another instruction from him when I bumped into him when you dragged me out. He wants us to go to the aquarium.”

“Why.” Hijikata plainly states.

“Beats me. Apparently every couple worth their salt goes to the aquarium once in their life. I don’t know from which trashy teen magazine he read that from, but I figured we should make that as our next destination.”

“Do as you wish. Just don’t embarrass me again.”

“Don’t worry, mayora. I have more or less remembered everything I had to do after I consumed my daily sugar intake. Here.” He suddenly throws the Justaway plushie at Hijikata, who caught it easily. “You hang on to that. Think of that as me when you feel lonely, okay?” Gintoki says softly, winking.

Hijikata wants to tell that rotten perm head that being a good boyfriend doesn’t mean that you need to copy what every shoujo manga protagonist does, but he shuts up. He is already too tired to deal with this charade.

* * *

After that, Gintoki acts as if he is possessed by the spirit of a basic popular high school boy you can find in any shoujo manga, going out of his way to be extra considerate to Hijikata. He walks in the side closest to the road, casually holding his hands, suddenly giving him water when they are queueing to enter the aquarium, or giving random compliments out of nowhere. The silver haired samurai probably thinks that he’s being a damn good job being an ideal boyfriend.

Rather than feeling flustered, Hijikata is feeling nauseous by the out-of-character kindness Gintoki displays.

They enter the tunnel deep in the aquarium. Sea life spreads out all around them with only the thick glass walls as barriers. The Edo Aquarium is one of the hottest date spots in Edo, and it shows everything from normal aquatic life to alien ones. However, pretty much everyone knows that no one actually visits the aquarium for a crash course on fishes and sharks and penguins. They just want to grope a feel of their partners beneath the cover of darkness.

“Look at that, Toushirou. That is the hammerhead shark. Cool, right?” Gintoki suddenly turns around at him, laughing.

“Yeah, if you say so.”

“C’mon. Be more excited about this, will you? Ah. Maybe you don’t like sharks? Want to check out other fishes?”

 _Why are you being so nice to me, idiot. Go back and insult me like you usually do, you are creeping me out._ Hijikata swallows that thought. “Do you like sharks?”

“Not really. It’s just this is the first time I have been to an aquarium. I got too excited.”

“Funny. The way you were behaving like you owned the place, I could have sworn it was not your first time.”

Gintoki sighs. “Come on, I never did anything fancy like having an aquarium date. The sea or a town festival was the best I could afford.”

 _Ah, the usual Yorozuya came out_. Hijikata notices. “It must be suck, having such a broke guy like you as a boyfriend.”

“I am a good boyfriend, though. Don’t you agree, honey?” Gintoki suddenly rests his head on Hijikata’s shoulder.

Surprised by the sudden contact, Hijikata snaps. “What are you doing?! Why are you acting like this?”

“Look at the girl.” Gintoki whispers.

Hijikata turns around. Mobumoto is looking at them with a dazed expression. She no longer puts on the determined face she had on since this morning.

“She is living in her own shoujo manga world. All of her romance knowledge probably came from shoujo manga, that’s why she’s so idealistic about love. I used her pure fantasy to show her the kind of boyfriend she idealized to break her doubts about our relationship.” The Yorozuya smirks. “I am doing a pretty damn good job, right? Did your heart skip a bit?”

“In your dreams, idiot.”

It takes them another half an hour before they finish their aquarium tour, and that means another half an hour of Gintoki channeling his shoujo manga hero energy to the discomfort of Hijikata. Surely Mobumoto is thinking that they are a real couple now, right? That Yorozuya is constantly attacking him with rom com cliches for hours. No matter how delusional the girl is, she has probably awakened from her dreams.

“How is it, Mobumoto-san? Are you satisfied now?” Hijikata asks. The three of them are standing in a secluded area outside of the aquarium, away from other people. The perfect place for the boss fight.

“No. I haven’t seen enough. I can’t see the love!” The girl insists stubbornly.

“Love can’t be seen, it can only be felt. And the only ones who can feel are the people experiencing it, in other words, Toushirou and I.” Gintoki concludes with another faux wise crap he usually says.

“Then prove it! Prove that unseen love to me!”

“Come on, Mobumoto-san, Gintoki and I are a real couple. What other proof do you need from us?”

“Okay, if you need proof so bad, how about this?” 

“What-”

Gintoki suddenly turns around and pulls Hijikata towards his embrace. Hijikata is about to protest when the silver haired man puts his left hand on Hijikata’s head and whispers. “Follow my lead.” Gintoki moves his right hand to tilt Hijikata’s head upwards, but stops when he realizes that he doesn’t need to do that, as they are practically already eye level. Cursing, the Yorozuya brings their heads closer. Hijikata closes his eyes, because that’s what people do when they are kissing, right? He resigns himself to fate and waits for the upcoming kiss…

Which doesn’t happen.

Rather than kissing Gintoki’s mouth, Hijikata is kissing the man’s thumb instead. Gintoki’s right hand is placed underneath his chin, and his thumb is stuck between their lips, blocking them from officially kissing. Yorozuya has his back turned on Mobumoto and the girl can’t see anything that’s actually happening, only the two entangled figures sharing what seems to be a passionate kiss.

The not kiss happens far too long for Hijikata’s taste, but it suddenly ends when Gintoki suddenly lets go of him. Hijikata waits for Gintoki to start saying insensitive things or simply insults him like he usually does, but Gintoki is looking quite lost himself. 

“Oogushi-kun, you are tall.” Gintoki finally says something, looking at him with a dumb expression on his face.

“What? We have similar height, stupid.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” 

Hijikata doesn’t have time to ponder about the strange interaction, because Mobumoto suddenly let out a high-pitched scream.

“No way… Hijikata-sama actually k-k-kiss someone… But that is something you can only do with someone you love…”

“What are you talking about? Gintoki is my boyfriend. We kiss all the time.” Hijikata gulps down the puke rising up his throat when he says that.

“That’s right. Toushirou and I kiss and do all sorts of dirty stuff together, from A to Z.” Gintoki continues, putting a hand around Hijikata. “We are totally in love, right? Honey.”

“Yeah, we are very in love. Darling.” It takes Hijikata every last bit of his strength to say the last word.

“I see… So you really have someone else.” Mobumoto says after a long pause, her face looks dejected. “I thought you deliberately showed off a fake lover to fool me, but…”

Gintoki and Hijikata exchange worried glances with their eyes, though their happy lovey-dovey expressions remain unfazed.

“I am sorry, I didn’t know you had a boyfriend… At first I was suspicious because you two don’t look like lovers. If anything, you look like two stubborn people who haven’t realized yet that they are in love with each other to the frustration of every witness present. But after seeing such a passionate kiss, it appears that my suspicion was unfounded.” Mobumoto says as she wipes a tear from her eyes.

Hijikata lets out a sigh. “Yeah, you are right- Wait, what?”

“I will formally withdraw my confession. Sakata-san, please take good care of him.”

“Don’t worry, I will.” Gintoki answers, and Hijikata kicks that sleazy man’s leg. _Who does he think he is?_

As Gintoki doubles over in pain, Mobumoto continues, unaware of the situation. “I guess that’s all… I am sorry for all the trouble. Farewell, Hijikata-sama! May you be eternally happy!”

“Yeah, you too.” Hijikata replies awkwardly. Mobumoto gives a bow before dragging her feet away from the two men, sighing heavily.

The fake lovers wait a little bit until that retreating back completely disappears from view, before Hijikata suddenly remembers the not kiss and grabs Gintoki by his collar.

“What was that even about?” Hijikata glares at him pointedly, his ear tips red.

“Calm down, nicotine freak. I figured a no nonsense way like that would be able to shut her up quickly.”

“But why a kiss, of all things?!”

“What else do you want me to do? You wanted me to get down on one knee and propose?” Gintoki retorts back.

Hijikata stops talking, fuming. He is still annoyed by the sudden not kiss. Still, it was too much for him. It was too sudden. His heart was beating way too fast, and the Yorozuya was too close, and then he closed his eyes like the dumb virgin he is… But the kiss never came. Truthfully, he doesn’t know what to identify the strange feeling in his chest. Is he grossed out because he was being forced on a mock date with the man he hates the most in the world? Or is he confused by how surprisingly nice a boyfriend Gintoki makes? Is he mad because the silver haired man tried to kiss him, or is he mad because Gintoki didn’t kiss him? He is frustrated, but at what? The only thing he knows is that he needs to give the rotten perm head a good beatdown.

“Let me beat you up.”

“Why?!” Gintoki yells.

“It won’t be long, it will be over before you know it. The next thing you know, you’ll be happy in the afterlife.”

“That means you are planning on killing me! Is that how you express your gratitude in Planet Mayora?!” Gintoki dodges a kick from Hijikata. The dark haired man is intent on letting him get a punch or two or ten, but Gintoki’s life is saved with the arrival of Kondou and Sarutobi.

“Gin-san! Are you okay?” Sarutobi glomps Gintoki, the force of her hug throws Gintoki several meters away from Hijikata’s determined punches.

“I take it that everything's done? Good work, you two.” Kondou says, laughing merrily.

“I expect hefty pay from you, tax robbers. And do something about the brat you are keeping, he tried to chop the hand that helped him.” Gintoki glares at the rampaging Hijikata, who is being restrained by Kondou.

“Don’t worry about that. I really appreciate this one, Yorozuya.” Kondou says. He looks down on Hijikata who is still struggling to break free from Kondou’s gorilla grip. “Come on, Toushi, say ‘thank you’ to Yorozuya.”

“No way in hell! And why are you talking like my mom?!”

Gintoki chuckles evilly. “Well, you are the one behaving like an annoying brat right now. Serves you right. Make sure to ground him, Mama Gorilla.”

“Toushi, c’mon, Yorozuya has been a great help today. We need to thank him properly. Mama doesn’t remember raising you to be an unsociable kid like this. What would Otae-papa say, boohoo…”

“I don’t remember entering your family registry. And I won’t thank him at all for today, not after what he did to me.” Hijikata frowns, turning his head to the side in a snappish way like a classic tsundere.

“What did he do to you? What happened?” Kondou raises an eyebrow, confused.

Hijikata’s face turns red once more and he stops talking. Kondou has to encourage him with supportive back pats before Hijikata finally mumbles in a low voice. “That asshole, he tried to k-k-kiss me…”

“KISS YOU?!” Sarutobi suddenly yells. Her acute hearing sense from years of shinobi experience picks up a scandalous confession. “What did you mean by that?!”

“Toushi… You and Yorozuya... Did you guys…” Kondou looks back and forth at the blushing pair, the silver haired one does look slightly guilty with how strained his face looks like right now.

“I can’t accept it! Even though you promised you won’t lay a hand on Gin-san!”

“It’s not like that! We had to do that to convince the girl!” Hijikata protests.

“Oh, now you are changing stories! At first you were mad he tried to kiss you, but now you are backing him up?” Sarutobi suddenly looks up at Gintoki, panicking. “Gin-san, you are not gay, are you?”

Gintoki looks down on the lavender haired woman latching on his arm. “What are you talking about? I like girls.”

“Yeah, but do you like boys?”

Dead silence. Gintoki turns his head awkwardly, avoiding the question. Everyone pretends that they don’t notice his silence as Sarutobi suddenly throws death glares at Hijikata. 

“Don’t act like you win just because you get a kiss from him! The one who will lay claim on Gin-san’s silver balls will be ME!”

“Don’t count me among your love rivals, dammit. He is ranked beneath bugs and cockroaches in my eyes. I don’t care about him.”

“I see, so you are playing the tsundere card to entice him, huh?! The whole cold “It’s not like I care about you, stupid!’ to get his attention and then showing the sweet side to trap him further. You and Tsukky would get along great, you tsundere man eaters!”

“Who are you calling a tsundere!”

Ignoring the heated argument going on behind him, Kondou suddenly approaches Gintoki and puts his hand on the silver haired man’s shoulder.

“...What?” Gintoki asks, looking at Kondou who is showing a troubled but kind smile.

“I know we are always at odds, and you are not the kind of man a father would want to be his son-in-law, but I know that at least, you are a man of principle. Please, take care of our Toushi.” Kondou says, giving a thumbs up.

It takes Gintoki ten seconds to process what he just heard. “OIII! It’s not like that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha, looks like even Sa-chan and Kondou realize the weird tension between Gin-san and Toushi… I wonder when the two people in question will realize it themselves. Anyways, Mobuko Mobumoto is just a mob type character, hence the pun-ny name. 
> 
> Anyways someone will finally show up next chapter. Geez, I wonder who it is...


	5. Festival date is the staple of summer vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gintoki, summer festivals, and how to not get distracted by the cute boy in front of you during a fireworks show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg my fic actually reached 100 kudos I am so happy guys ;_; thank you very much!! I want to update more frequently but RL is kicking me in the butt :( I should probably write shorter chapters but somehow I keep ending up with long chapters ahahaha

Sakata Gintoki didn’t like summer festivals.

When he was still a dirty orphan trying to survive all by himself in a battlefield, he was scared of strangers, loud noises, and bright lights. Summer festivals typically consisted of all three. Even though the times were uncertain and wars broke out everywhere, small festivals were still being held in towns and villages. Maybe it was precisely because things were tough that people needed booze and dancing to take their minds off things.

For Gintoki, the cheerful laughter and merry folk songs that could be heard from the festival served as a painful reminder of his unusual circumstance. He wasn’t a normal child. Normal children didn’t loiter around battlefields, stripping corpses to survive. Even if he went to a festival, he knew that there wouldn’t be any place for him there. No one wanted a corpse-eating demon intruding on a joyful celebration. A demon’s place was on a battlefield, surrounded by corpses, away from humans. 

But then he met Shouyou. 

During their travels, the teacher and student happened upon a local summer festival. Shouyou enthusiastically brought him along, and for the first time, Gintoki was able to participate in a human festival. He ate candied apple and shared takoyaki with Shouyou, and the long-haired man bought him a paper kitsune mask to wear, cooing at how cute he was. 

Shouyou always dragged him to every local festival they chanced upon, and that didn’t change even when they finally settled down in the sleepy countryside of Choshu and opened up Shouka Sonjuku. Every summer, they would go to the local summer festival and have fun together. The only thing that changed was the fact that many other people joined in. Going to the summer festival together was basically Shouka Sonjuku’s field trip.

“Sensei, I want to play that!”

“I want to eat yakisoba!”

“Sensei, I can’t find Omii-chan anywhere… What should I do?”

“Sensei, sensei, sensei~”

Surrounded by a bunch of kids who were tugging his sleeves and trying to get his attention, Shouyou was laughing warmly. He didn’t look troubled at all, rather he looked quite content. The teacher tried his best to indulge his students and answered their questions. However, one teacher couldn’t handle so many students at once. 

“Sensei, do you need help?” Katsura, already a precocious child, asked in concern.

“Ah, Kotarou. Good timing. Can you take these kids to the fireworks show venue? I need to look for Omii. Looks like she was separated from us.” Shouyou answered. 

“Alright, sensei. Come on, everyone. Let’s go.” Katsura ushered the kids to go with him. Some of them followed him, but a few children were still standing around Shouyou. “What are you doing?”

“I am worried for Omii-chan. She is only five... I shouldn’t have let go of her hand.”

“What if she is lost and hurt? Sensei, let us go with you!”

“That’s right, sensei! Let’s split up and search for her!”

Shouyou felt troubled. He was very happy that his students were so kind and cared so much for each other, but if everyone split up, there were higher chances that they would be the one who got lost instead. It was very easy for Shouyou to locate his students, he could do that with his arms crossed and eyes blinded, but he’d prefer that they were not lost in the first place. 

However, before Shouyou could say anything, a young boy approached the group. The boy was holding a crying little girl’s hand. The little girl looked up to see her friends and teacher, and ran towards them.

“Omii-chan!” Relief washed over the group when they saw the little girl safe and sound. 

Shouyou smiled when he felt the little girl hugging his legs. She was probably still scared. Shouyou reached out to pat her head before smiling at the boy who led her back. “Shinsuke, thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing. I just saw her wandering by herself so I brought her back.” Takasugi replied. 

“Is that so? Shinsuke is very responsible. You are very helpful.”

Little Omii finally released herself from Shouyou and approached Takasugi. “Shinsuke nii-san, thank you very much.”

The other children followed Omii and expressed their gratitude to Takasugi, who were flustered because of the sudden crowd forming around him. Some tried to shove their snacks to him as thanks, and some of them even pulled him for a group hug.

“As expected of the first son of the samurai family. He is very responsible alright.” A monotone voice interrupted the fuzzy atmosphere. The owner of the voice was standing on the sidelines, munching on his candied apple with a bored expression.

Takasugi, who was embarrassed because of the attention just moments before, suddenly glared at the silver haired boy. “At least I know my responsibilities. Unlike a certain first student who was lazing around, doing nothing except being a waste of space.”

“Excuse me? I am doing something, thank you very much. This candied apple wouldn’t eat itself.” 

“You absolute moron.” Takasugi rolled his eyes. 

Gintoki bit the candied apple roughly, producing a loud crunch sound before throwing the leftover stick away. “What was that, shrimp? You want to go?”

“I am always ready. The score is 45-46. I will be taking the next win too.” Takasugi mocked him. Sparks were flying from their eyes.

“You rigged the tally, stupid. It was 45-45. The last one didn’t count. I slipped on the dojo floor, you didn’t knock me out.”

“Yeah, you slipped _after_ I landed a blow on that empty head of yours. Ask Zura.” 

“Zura knew the last duel didn’t count. Right, Zura? You have my back, right?”

“Tell Gintoki that he is being delusional, Zura.”

Katsura furrowed his brows. “I am not Zura, I am Katsura! Enough of this. We need to move out soon, the fireworks display will start.”

“Even you, Zura?” Gintoki clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Whatever. How about we settle it once and for all, Takasugi?”

“Fine. You will regret this.”

The two of them stood in front of each other. They didn’t have their wooden practice swords with them, so they were planning on fighting bare-handed. Katsura looked at Shouyou for guidance, who was simply watching the problem kids with an amused expression. 

However, the fight never started. Takasugi charged first, but he suddenly stumbled and nearly fell face first on the ground. Gintoki was surprised. Before he could think, his body reacted faster and he caught Takasugi in his arms. 

“What are you doing, idiot? Is that your new technique?” Gintoki asked. 

“My sandal strap broke.” Takasugi stated, annoyed. He released himself from Gintoki’s arms and looked down at his sandal.

“What do they say about broken straps again? Something bad will happen? You better be careful now, Takasugi-kun, you will probably wake up a few centimeters shorter tomorrow.”

“Shut up, stupid dead fish eyes.” Takasugi bent down to pick up his broken sandal and threw it at Gintoki, who dodged it easily.

“Now, now, don’t fight.” Shouyou laughed. He placed his hand on Takasugi’s head, comforting him. “We can find a replacement for that sandal. Gintoki, can you go with Shinsuke?”

Gintoki groaned. “Why me?”

“You were the one who agitated him in the first place. You should take responsibility.” Shouyou smiled his trademark serene yet scary smile and Gintoki shivered. His teacher wasn’t one to be disobeyed.

Grumbling, Gintoki knelt down on the ground and motioned for Takasugi to climb onto his back. “Get on, runt.”

Takasugi looked at him as if Gintoki just asked him to jump into the sea and drown himself. “Why.”

“We can’t have the noble feet of a young master like you touch the dirty ground, right? Hurry up and get on.”

“Come on, Shinsuke. Gintoki is reflecting on his actions. I am sure there are people selling sandals here. Go with him. We will be waiting ahead.” Shouyou approached them and gently led Takasugi to Gintoki. Takasugi had no choice but to climb on Gintoki’s back and placed his arms around Gintoki. The silver haired boy stood up, surprising Takasugi.

“Be careful, stupid.” Takasugi hissed.

“I am sorry. Do you prefer a princess carry instead, young master?” Gintoki asked rudely. Takasugi gave him a headbutt from behind, causing the taller boy to cry out.

“Gintoki and Shinsuke sure are close, aren’t they?” Shouyou said, and the rest of the group laughed.

Katsura tried to stifle his laughter but failed. “You are right, sensei. Gintoki, Takasugi, we will be waiting so you guys can take your sweet, sweet time. Let’s go, everyone.”

Gintoki did his best to not notice Takasugi behind him. The silver haired boy walked through the festival with Takasugi on his back. Takasugi’s arms were on his shoulders and his head rested above Gintoki’s shoulder as he scanned the stalls for any sandal sellers. This situation looked like it came out from a shoujo manga, and Gintoki suddenly felt very awkward.

“What a joke. If I had to give a piggyback ride to someone during a summer festival like this, why couldn’t I do it with a cute girl and not a dour looking guy like you?” Gintoki said, trying to dispel the funny feeling on his stomach.

“Shut up. As if I want to be carried by you.”

“Well, it’s not like I want to carry you. It’s because sensei asked me to.”

“What, complaining already? Are you tired from one piggyback ride? I never thought that you are this weak, Gintoki.” Takasugi mocked.

“Huh? I can carry you all day and not feel anything. It’s like carrying a tissue box.” Gintoki retorted. “Oi, Takasugi-kun, are you actually a girl? Why are you so light?”

“Shut up, idiot. As if.”

Despite his strength, the dark haired boy was actually quite light that it made Gintoki worry whether the boy had been eating properly. He heard that Takasugi was often starved in his house as part of his samurai training or punishment. His fists clenched when he thought of that. He was jealous of Takasugi for being born into prosperity, while he had to scavenge for food and endured hunger for days before he met Shouyou. But when he felt how light Takasugi was when he carried the boy, he suddenly felt ridiculous.

Gintoki preferred to not get too close to Takasugi if he could help it. The boy was driving him insane. Lately, he kept finding himself looking at Takasugi. He got into trouble with sensei a few times because he didn’t pay attention in class and chose to just gaze at Takasugi from behind. Whenever they were practicing swordplay in the dojo, he obliged Takasugi’s challenges even though he was feeling lazy and wanted nothing more than to slack off. It was the same when they were eating or doing chores, he kept making excuses to do it with Takasugi.

Gintoki didn’t realize it at first, until Zura pointed it out. And that made Gintoki angry, because he didn’t know why he did that. He didn’t know why he went out of his way to spend time with Takasugi. He thought he hated that runt. Or maybe he just liked to annoy Takasugi. That must be it. 

Gintoki’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound. He looked up and saw fireworks decorating the inky black night sky with colors.

“The fireworks show is starting.” Takasugi said. Gintoki turned around to his side, looking at Takasugi’s side profile as he watched the display intently with childlike wonder on his face.

Gintoki stopped on his tracks.

Takasugi noticed Gintoki’s gaze. “What are you looking at, weirdo?” 

Gintoki expected him to look annoyed, but he wasn’t. Takasugi was smiling at him, his sour mood forgotten. The sight of Takasugi, excited and happy and simply ethereal with the lights dancing on his skin, was too breathtaking that Gintoki couldn’t take his eyes away from him. He couldn’t stop looking at the fireworks blooming on the dark haired boy’s eyes.

And then Gintoki felt something he couldn’t figure out. It was like something was boiling inside his blood. His heart was thumping so loud he could hardly hear the fireworks.  Panicked and confused by the foreign feeling, Gintoki reacted the only way he knew how. “Getting this excited over fireworks, are you a kid?”

Takasugi’s face soured into a scowl as he turned back to look at the sky. “An idiot like you just wouldn’t understand.”

“At least I am not a childish idiot like a certain someone.”

“I am not childish.” 

“With that height? Please.” Gintoki rolled his eyes. He finally turned up towards the sky, appreciating the flashy lights painted on the dark canvas. “Well, I guess fireworks aren’t all that bad.”

Takasugi hummed in agreement. The two of them stopped in the middle of the festival, enthralled by the fireworks. 

* * *

Sakata Gintoki liked summer festivals. 

He liked the cheap booze it offered and the festival games. He liked pretty girls walking around in their pretty yukata. He liked the smell of freshly fried oily food and sounds of vendors shouting their merchandise. He liked the bright paper lanterns hanging above the busy street. Most importantly, he just liked a chance to kick back and relax, and maybe forget about the fact that there was still a war going on and he would probably die from some random arrow tomorrow.

“What if someone recognizes us and reports us to the Bakufu?” Takasugi asked. He had been asking this question for the fourth time, trying to no avail to convince his idiotic comrades.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Everyone is too drunk out of their minds to notice us.” Gintoki answered.

Sakamoto laughed his usual booming laugh. “Kintoki is right. Besides, we could always count on Zura to secure an escape plan for us. Right, Zura?”

“Of course. Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Takasugi. I have prepared fool-proof countermeasures to make sure no one would notice us.” Katsura smirked and distributed something to his three friends. “Okay, everyone, put this on.”

Takasugi looked at the bear mask on his hand. “Zura, this is an animal mask. You gave us animal masks.”

“I know. No one will notice us if we hide our faces. Brilliant, isn’t it?”

“I have no time for your idiocy.” Takasugi turned around to leave, but Sakamoto caught him.

“Now, now, Takasugi. Don’t be too hasty. Think about it, there’s no way some random Bakufu official will be able to catch us when we are together. If they can do that, the war would have finished long ago.”

“Leave him be, Tatsuma. This runt is just sulking because I beat him in the shooting gallery last year.” Gintoki said. He had put on the white fox mask Katsura gave him.

“Is that so? I guess it’s true what they say about short people, they are so full of anger because everything is condensed in that little body.” Sakamoto said, rubbing his chin.

“You are right. Short people have short tempers so they get mad easily, like Takasugi-kun here.” Gintoki added, patting Takasugi’s head in a condescending manner.

“Assholes. Are you looking for a fight?” Takasugi spat out.

“What are you going to do? Stab our knees? Tatsuma, I am so scared~ This tiny teddy bear said he is going to stab our knees. Wait, can you even reach it?”

“Stop it, you three! Sakamoto, you were supposed to be the mediator. Why are you starting the fight?” Katsura sighed.

“Did I?” Sakamoto looked surprised. “Ah, I didn’t notice. My bad. Hahaha!”

The four warriors walked through the festival, bantering. Considering the proximity to a battlefield, the small town’s festival was truly nothing to be impressed about. There were some food stalls and games, and a small stage where people sang and danced, but nothing big. The festival was crowded, mainly because it was the only one in the entire area. And that’s why Takasugi was worried. A festival served as a perfect bait to capture Joui warriors, and he swore he could see men with katana on their waist on alleyways, probably Bakufu dogs trying to sniff out rebels.

The three idiots weren’t concerned, however. They kept dragging him to try out delicacies or games. Tatsuma even shoved him onto the stage to sing a duet with Zura. Even though their faces were covered by masks, it was still an incredibly risky move. Afterwards, they moved out to the open fields beneath the night sky to wait for the fireworks to start. The venue was crowded and it was too dark that no one could recognize anyone unless they were right in front of each other.

When the display started, Gintoki removed his fox mask and drank his sake in silence. He was fidgeting. Even the beautiful fireworks did nothing to calm his nerves. Tatsuma excused himself to the toilet after he ate spoiled food and Zura was passed out cold on the ground after too many drinks. He didn’t know if his friends created the opportunity for him or it was simply a coincidence brought by their shared stupidity, but he decided to thank them.

“Shinsuke.”

“What?”

Gintoki tore the stupid bear mask from Takasugi’s face and lifted the young man’s chin up. He could see fireworks blooming on those green eyes. How beautiful. He could lose himself in those eyes forever. The two young samurai looked at each other.

Then, Gintoki kissed him.

It was a soft kiss. The kiss ended as soon as it started, just like a firework. 

Truthfully, Gintoki wanted to kiss longer. He wanted to embrace him tighter. He wanted to spend the rest of the night together with Takasugi, away from this drunken crowd and damned wars. But he held himself back, and settled for a quick kiss. 

When they separated, Takasugi looked up at him. “Someone could have seen us.”

“No one did.” 

“You are insufferable.”

“I am your type of insufferable, though.” Gintoki said. He grabbed Takasugi’s hand, intertwining their fingers together. “Want to continue, Shinsuke?”

“Can you shut up? I am watching the fireworks.”

“What, so fireworks are more interesting than Gin-san? Your own boyfriend? I can show you something even bigger and better than this, you know? It will leave your mouth hanging open-” Before he could finish the sentence, Gintoki felt something stomping on his feet. 

“Be quiet and enjoy the show, you good-for-nothing.” Takasugi said.

Gintoki pouted. “You really like your fireworks, huh. Ever since you were a kid, you always loved things like this. Just how much of a festival lover are you?”

“I wouldn’t call it my favorite. I just like looking at them.” Takasugi reached underneath his kimono for his kiseru pipe. “Sensei told us about it in class back then. The concept of impermanence, nothing lasts forever. Not you, not me, and not this world either. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find beauty in that impermanence. The fireworks bloom beautifully for a transient moment, and wither away. But that isn’t so bad, right?” 

“As expected of the prodigy, you sure know your stuff.”

“If you just paid one second of attention in class, you would know this.” Takasugi said before placing the kiseru on his lips. As always, Gintoki found that simple motion fascinating.

Gintoki looked at the young man beside him. “You know, the reason why we attempted such a risky gamble like coming to a festival like this is because of you.”

“Me? What do you mean?” 

“The last battle… Many of the Kiheitai members were slain because of the surprise attack. We just wanted to do something for you, Shinsuke.”

Takasugi exhaled as smoke drifted from the end of his kiseru. “Nonsense. I don’t need a bunch of insensitive idiots to suddenly start acting nice. The Kiheitai hasn’t suffered a single loss. Every single one of them is still with me.”

Gintoki was stunned for a moment before he finally smiled. “You are right. We are just sticking our noses where they don't belong.”

“I never said that. Thank you for doing this, Gintoki. You and the other two idiots are softer than you look, huh?” Takasugi smiled mischievously. Gintoki groaned, too tired to argue. 

“Actually, I wanted to show you a festival that is better than this one. The one here is just a small local celebration. I heard the ones held in Edo and Kyou are flashier and bigger. They actually use robots there.” Gintoki said.

“Is that so? Sounds intriguing.”

“Right? That’s why, uh…”  _ Let’s see it next time, the big festival in Edo. I will show you a sight you can never forget. Please stay with me until then. Let’s go to Edo with Shouyou, Zura, Tatsuma, and the others.  _

When he saw how the silver tongued and eloquent Gintoki struggled to complete his sentence, Takasugi laughed. “What is it?”

“Never mind.” Gintoki felt his face turning red.

“Tell me, Gintoki, what is it? Cat got your tongue?”

“Shut up, runt. You are so annoying.” Gintoki patted the shorter man’s head and messed up his hair fondly.

“Edo, huh? It would be nice if we could go there someday. When we do, make sure to show me the big and flashy festival, okay? I am looking forward to it, Gintoki.”

* * *

Sakata Gintoki didn’t like summer festivals.

Festivals were just too crowded for his liking, and too noisy. When thousands of people were crammed into one space, the smell was unbearable. He disliked the overpriced street food, games that were designed to rip off your wallet, and the bright signs that made his eyes hurt. And summer festivals were hot, damn it. Everyone was sweating like crazy because of the heat, and the large number of people made everything hotter. It was like entering an oven. He couldn't understand why people actually went to festivals to have fun.

For Gintoki, there was nothing to be seen or enjoyed in a festival. Even though summer festivals in Edo were major events offering superior forms of entertainment for its populace, Gintoki failed to see its charm. 

Even though he could finally visit a summer festival in Edo, he didn’t have anyone to accompany him.

Well, there was Otose downstairs, but if he wanted to spend time with her, he just needed to go to her shop and drank until he got kicked out. Going to a summer festival with your elderly landlady just didn’t sound exciting.

The first time he went to a festival with people and actually enjoyed it after ten long years was that time with Shinpachi and Kagura after they helped old man Gengai fix his robots. He actually had fun, even though Gengai mentioning the war and revenge made him remember something he didn’t want to. But it was nice to talk with someone over booze, and it was nice seeing the kids so excited about the festival.  After Gengai left to adjust things for one last time before his showcase, Gintoki left the booth. He wandered around, looking for Kagura and Shinpachi who disappeared earlier. He was stopped from advancing by a large crowd of people who were watching the fireworks and clogging the street.

_A nostalgic scene_ , Gintoki realized. How many times had he looked up to the night sky, looking at fireworks blooming and withering like this? Be it Shouyou who carried him on his shoulders so that his kid self could watch the sky better, or Zura who tugged his sleeve excitedly whenever a particularly big firework showed up, or Tatsuma who shouted “tamaya” with his usual loud voice. There was always someone beside him back then. However, if he had to choose from all of his memories of summer, looking at the fireworks reflected on a familiar pair of green eyes must be his favorite. 

He couldn’t help but wonder about the owner of the green eyes and whether he remembered the promise they made during the last festival they attended together.

Then, as if fate was laughing at him, Gintoki suddenly heard a voice from years ago, one that belonged to his dreams and memories. “A festival like this should be flashy, shouldn’t it?” 

He tried to draw his sword. Even though it was a voice that was so familiar to him, they were not lovers anymore. They were not even friends. The only date this man would invite him to is a boat date in the Sanzu River before sending him to hell.

“Don’t move.” He felt the blade pressing on his back. “To think that the infamous Shiroyasha would let himself be ambushed from behind like this. Have you gotten weak, Gintoki?”

Even though it was dripped with poison, the way Takasugi said his name made him feel like he was back to being a teenager. He had longed for that voice to call his name for so long like he did back then, but not like this.

“What are you doing here?” Gintoki asked.

“Shut up and watch. Something interesting is going to happen.”

“What are you planning to do, Takasugi?”

Takasugi laughed scornfully. “Takasugi, huh? Always so impatient, Gintoki. I told you to watch.”

There were explosion sounds coming from the exhibition stage and sounds of people fighting. Crowds of visitors in front of them broke apart and they ran away from the stage, fearing for their lives. Gintoki realized that the mastermind of the commotion was standing behind him, his sword pressed against his back. Takasugi took advantage of Gengai’s bitterness and hatred towards the Bakufu to take the Shogun’s head.

“So you made the old man do this, Takasugi.” Gintoki said.

“Made him? Don’t be stupid. I just saw what he wanted and helped him. I know his suffering. After all, the same black beast of vengeance lies within me too. It roared, wanting to avenge our comrades and let the enemies taste the suffering we endured. ‘Kill them all! Kill them all!’ I hear it resounding in my ears.” 

Gintoki remembered the boy who laughed out loud so freely in the dojo, surrounded by his friends after he won against him. He remembered the young man who played the shamisen in front of him. And lastly, Gintoki remembered the painful scream Takasugi let out after he took Shouyou’s head, as if it was him who died that day.

“Gintoki, can’t you hear it? No, I am sure you can’t. Someone like you, who abandoned his past and chose to live in indifference after losing his fang, couldn’t possibly understand.”

Gintoki grabbed the sword with his bare hands, and blood spilled to the ground. _What was this runt even saying?_ He couldn’t hear any beast howling, but if it was Takasugi, he always heard him loud and clear. “Takasugi, it’ll be a problem if you underestimate me. I am raising a beast too. He’s not black, though. He’s white. And his name is Sadaharu.”

Gintoki threw a punch. The punch caught Takasugi in the face and his body was pushed back, but he didn’t fall. He grabbed Gintoki’s fist and held it in place, his head tilting to the side as if not wanting to part with Gintoki’s hand. When he looked at Gintoki’s surprised face, Takasugi laughed. “I am not here to fight you, Gintoki. I have something far bigger, far more ambitious to do right now. I am afraid you will have to wait for your turn.”

“Is that so? Then get out of my sight right now.” Gintoki spat out the words.

“How cold-hearted. It is a festival right now. You never wanted to leave my side whenever there were festivals like these back then. Guess you changed, huh.”

Takasugi moved closer. Gintoki knew he had to stop him. If the man drew his sword and started attacking him, it would be far too late. But Gintoki didn’t move. His body refused to move. Even though he knew he had to get away and stop whatever commotion was happening on the stage area, he didn’t want to go just yet. What was he waiting for? Even he didn’t know the answer.

Takasugi grabbed his collar and smiled a familiar mischievous smile as the shorter man pulled him down for a kiss. Gintoki was surprised, not at the sudden kiss, but how his body reacted faster than his brain. His body remembered what it had to do, what it used to do. The memory of the flesh imprinted on his body and the familiar sensation it brought, nothing changed at all from the kisses he shared with Takasugi back then. Against his better judgement, he returned the kiss. 

He knew he had to stop, but his heart wouldn’t listen. He knew he should push him away, but his body wouldn’t move. So, he killed his reason and returned the kiss.

For a fleeting moment, it was as if he was back to ten years ago. Summer festivals were meant to be spent like this, kissing your lover as fireworks bloomed in the sky and the shogun is facing an assassination attempt. Any moment now, Zura and Tatsuma would suddenly come back from whatever they were doing, and the two lovers had to separate themselves and awkwardly pretend like they were not kissing like hungry beasts moments before.

Except, he was not kissing that tiny brat from Shouka Sonjuku, he was kissing the radical terrorist wanted by the nation, Takasugi Shinsuke.

Gintoki finally pushed Takasugi back. The shorter man licked his lips, teasing Gintoki with the sensual movements he knew would drive Gintoki crazy. “Look, Gintoki. Fireworks are blooming.”

It did. But when Gintoki searched his remaining eye, he didn’t find any fireworks on it. The only thing reflected on it was darkness.

“I don’t have time for your games, Takasugi.” Gintoki finally said. He turned around and left the Kiheitai leader behind.

Takasugi didn’t say anything. He just looked at the retreating back of the Yorozuya with a bored expression on his face. The dark haired man threw one last lingering glance at Gintoki who was running to the stage where undoubtedly Hiraga Gengai was conducting the last machinery showcase of his life.

“Even though I showed him a flashy festival, he didn't like it, huh?” 

* * *

Despite his vehement dislike of summer festivals, Gintoki finds himself participating in one. It has been one full year after that incident with Takasugi, and he finds himself avoiding festivals again. If not for Shinpachi and Kagura who insisted on coming, he would never go to a festival like this. But Gintoki couldn’t say no to the kids, so here he is, standing around like a lost kid in the middle of a festival. Except, he is not the lost kid. He is the poor dad who lost his kids and is debating on whether to search for them or just go to the nearby sake booth and drink himself stupid.

Gintoki knows that Shinpachi and Kagura together are unbeatable, not to mention the extra firepower offered by Otae and Kyuubei. The four of them can take on a militia all by themselves, so Gintoki thinks he can just chill somewhere and hope that no sexy one eyed terrorist will try to topple the government in front of his eyes again.

“Are you having fun?” a voice asks suddenly from behind him. Gintoki groans. He needs to stop setting up flags for encounters like this.

“Stop haunting me.” The silver haired man says out loud. He grips his wooden sword, preparing himself for yet another trip down the memory lane with a man he never seems to let go of. He wants to let go. He needs to let go. He has burned that bridge and any hope for reconciliation that day during the Benizakura incident. This time, he will settle it once and for all.

“No one would do that, stupid. Not even if you pay them.” The owner of the voice stops beside him, and Gintoki realizes that the voice belongs to Hijikata. The Shinsengumi vice chief is dressed in his uniform and smoking his usual cigarette.

Gintoki lets out a breath he doesn’t know was holding. “Don’t suddenly come up from behind me like that. I might mistake you for a terrorist and attack you, you know.’

“I am precisely working to make sure no terrorist will be here.” Hijikata raises his eyebrow at him. “The kids are looking for you.”

“Are you working as a messenger now? Damn, being a civil servant is tough.”

“Shut up. I just happened to meet them during my patrol.” 

“Where are they?” Gintoki asks. 

“They were at the goldfish scooping stall when I saw them. Glasses said they will be waiting for you in the riverbank for the fireworks display.”

“Fireworks display, huh?” Gintoki hums. “I see. Thank you, I guess. See ya, Hijikata-kun.”

“Wait.” Hijikata suddenly approaches him. “I am coming with you.”

Gintoki makes a dumb expression. “Huh?”

“Kondou-san is intruding on your group. I need to fetch him.”

“That gorilla sure is persistent.” Gintoki says. Hijikata doesn’t say anything. The two of them walk in silence. Usually, Gintoki will start something stupid to get under the dark haired man’s skin, but he is too unfocused and dazed. When was the last time he walked around in a festival like this with someone beside him, in this kind of ambience that is not like a single dad taking care of two kids and one dog?

Gintoki doesn’t realize that Hijikata has slipped away from him, until he feels a kick on his leg. “What was that, you idiot mayora?”

His complaints are interrupted when he sees Hijikata shoving a large helping of shaved ice in front of him. Surprised, he looks up at Hijikata, who is pointedly avoiding his gaze.

“My treat. I haven’t thanked you properly for your help the other day with the stalker.” Hijikata finally says something. He practically forces the shaved ice with pink, possibly strawberry syrup, on it to Gintoki’s hands.

“Oi, oi, this is too out of character for you, Mr. Demonic Vice Chief! What, is it going to rain spears and arrows tomorrow?” Gintoki asks, still in disbelief. Hijikata is actually being cordial to him! Maybe the world will actually end tomorrow.

“Shut up and take your payment, you moron.” Hijikata scowls.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Gintoki beams. He is too focused on the sugary flavor of the dessert that he fails to notice Hijikata’s faint smile.

When they arrived in the river bank, Gintoki could see their group sitting on the grass, drinking and talking together. The ragtag group is eye catching and loud, considering his friends are the most messed up and colorful people in Edo. 

“Gin-san, Hijikata-san, over here!” Shinpachi’s voice calls out.

“Hey.” Gintoki greets the group. He sees Shinpachi, Kagura, Otae, Kyuubei, the four people he went to the festival with in the first place with the addition of Kondou (passed out, probably because of Otae) and Okita. 

“Oh my.” Otae suddenly places her hands in front of his mouth when he sees Gintoki and Hijikata together.

“What is it, anego?” Kagura asks Otae, who is looking at the two men with a surprised look.

“So the rumors are true.” Kyuubei says suddenly. “Gintoki, congratulations.”

“Uh, what? Why are you congratulating me?” 

Otae coughs. “Actually, last week, I was shopping with Kyuu-chan when I saw you and Hijikata-san entering a hotel together. We were surprised, but we didn’t think much of that. Afterwards, Sarutobi-san visited my dojo to complain about Hijikata-san stealing Gin-san. So you are dating now? Congratulations!”

“What?! Gin-san and Hijikata-san? Dating?!” Shinpachi yells out in classic tsukkomi routine, jumping from his seat in surprise and pointing at the two men.

“Gin-chan, I don’t want a new mom!” Kagura complains.

“Hijikata-san finally lost his V card?” Okita whistles in appreciation.

“Oi, oi, you guys are mistaken! We were just fake dating! There is nothing going on between us, right, Hijikata-kun?” Gintoki explains quickly, trying to smooth out the misunderstanding.

“Yeah, we were just acting. Situation called for it. There is absolutely nothing going on between us. Right, Sakata-kun?” Hijikata backs up Gintoki’s explanation. The worst situation has arrived, people actually saw them together during that whole farce.

“Is that so? I always thought you guys suit each other.” Otae says.

Hijikata and Gintoki glare at each other before spitting at the ground.

“As if. We hate each other.” Hijikata grits his teeth.

“I am physically unable to be within 5 meters of Oogushi-kun without needing to puke.”

“Well, I am physically unable to not stop myself from beating you up if I see that dumb, shady face in front of me.”

“Listen, If I am dying and the only way to save my life is to date you, I’d rather let myself die.”

“I will literally pay for a chance to kick you from a cliff, you stupid perm head. Go bald, asshole.”

“What did you say, you rotten vice chief?!”

Okita observes the exchange before yawning in boredom. “What, is that their preferred foreplay?”

“Please don’t phrase it like that, Okita-san.” Shinpachi sighs.

“Well, it was true. They were simply faking a relationship to fool a stalker. Nothing more.” Kondou suddenly wakes up from his deep slumber and joins the conversation.

“Kondou-san, you know about that?” Shinpachi looks at the newly awakened man.

“Yeah. I helped them carry out the mission. Stalker repellent is my specialty.” Kondou says, patting his own chest proudly.

“Probably because you are the best one in business.” Otae whispers under her breath, annoyed.

“Gori, so they are not actually dating?” Kagura asks.

Kondou rubs his chin, seemingly lost in thoughts. “Well, what can I say… Not yet?”

“What do you mean by not yet?” Kyuubei suddenly interjects, intrigued. 

“The signs are all there, but they don’t realize it themselves. Maybe one day.” 

Unaware of the conversation going on behind their backs, the two men are still engaged in a heated argument. The argument is going to escalate into a full blown fistfight before it is suddenly interrupted by the first firework. Red flowers bloom on the night sky, followed by a myriad of colors in various shapes and forms. 

“Now, now, Gin-san, Hijikata-san, let’s just forget about that and watch the fireworks together.” Shinpachi invites them to sit down. “Let’s play nice, okay?”

Grumbling, the two men sit down. Kondou hands them two cups of sake, trying to calm their nerves. He pats them in the back before leaving them to annoy Otae once more. Gintoki and Hijikata gulps down the content of their cups before glaring at each other again. 

“What are you looking at, asshole?” Gintoki asks.

Hijikata averts his gaze and turns to look at the sky. “Nothing. I am sorry.”

Gintoki finds himself surprised once more by the sudden kindness. “Why are you so nice today, Hijikata-kun? You are usually more…” Gintoki struggles to find the right word. He lets the sentence trails off, hoping that the opponent knows what he’s referring to.

“Shut up. Don’t say anything else. I just feel sorry for you, looking like a lost kid in the main street back then. Are you a preschool kid?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gintoki rolls his eyes. He grabs a sake bottle and fills both his cup and Hijikata’s. He accepts the truce.

“Hell if I know. You are annoying. Just look at the fireworks or something.”

“I am doing that right now. Wow, fireworks show in Edo sure is something else, huh. Look at the scale. Awesome.” Gintoki says, observing the night sky colored by vibrant colors. Even though he doesn’t care much for summer festivals now, he has to admit that Edo sure knows how to make a festival.

“Heh, you sound like a kid. Do you like fireworks that much?”

Gintoki tilts his head to the side. “Not really. I hate them, in fact. Way too loud for my taste. I hate summer festivals too.”

“What a dreary guy.” Hijikata chuckles.

Gintoki turns around to look at Hijikata. “Hey, Hijikata. Can you look at me for a quick second?”

“What is it?” Hijikata obliges the strange request, nevertheless. 

Gintoki doesn’t answer. Hijikata is beside him, and the fireworks display served as background. The sharp contrast between the man in dark uniform and the colorful sky paints a striking figure. However, Gintoki is looking for only one thing. And he finds it reflected on the man’s eyes. He is seeing fireworks, blooming and withering ephemerally, reflected on Hijikata’s blue eyes.

And Gintoki realizes that he is in deep trouble.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I am just thinking that summer festivals can go to hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is still mainly a Ginhiji fic but I love Gintaka too so I kinda went overboard with the flashback but frankly I am not sorry :D They had nice relationship back then but *you know what* happened so they were estranged. I love angst! Writing about Shouyou-sensei and the Joui 4 gave me extra boost. 
> 
> Some minor details about the fic:  
> \- You can pry the headcanon that Shouka Sonjuku is in Choshu from my cold, dead hands. The historical Shouka Sonjuku was founded in Choshu, and the Choshu domain was home to the historical counterparts of Sensei. Katsura, and Takasugi.  
> \- The concept of impermanence or mujou (無常) is an important aspect in Japanese culture because it implies both impermanence and mutability. Anyways I just think it would be ironically funny if someone who is 'permanent' like Shouyou was teaching about the beauty of impermanence :D  
> \- This is pretty basic but calling someone with their given name and no honorifics denote intimacy. That's why Takasugi reacted when Gintoki called him with his last name in the third memory even though Gintoki used to call him with his first name in the past when they were alone.  
> \- I bet Zura and Tatsuma knew GinTaka because they were not exactly subtle, but everyone pretended not to know :p
> 
> Looks like a certain dense boi finally realized what's going on :D


	6. Keep your letters short and concise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the incident with the Mimawarigumi, Hijikata finds himself face-to-face with the man behind the legend of Shiroyasha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, an update this soon? O.o Even I am surprised! So yeah I can finally give a solid timeframe and not only *flails hand wildly* it happens between SA arc ;; There you have it, a post Baragaki fic!

The empty letter stares at him.

Hijikata glares at the blank paper, half expecting that words will appear magically if he glares at it hard enough.

The dark haired vice commander of the Shinsengumi is sitting on his hospital bed. He is looking positively injured and tired, bandaged like a mummy underneath his pale blue hospital clothes. A small wooden table is affixed to the bed to help him write. Hijikata is trying to write something,  _ anything _ , but nothing comes to mind. 

The afternoon wind blows into the room, causing the curtains to sway slightly. The paper airplane on the wooden desk falls to the ground.

When Hijikata notices the airplane on the floor, he sighs as he throws himself into the hospital bed. “Damn. I can’t think of anything to write.”

The reason why Hijikata Toushirou is lying on his back in a hospital room, looking like he just survived a dangerous encounter with a monster is because he did. He picked a fight with the Mimawarigumi, specifically its commander, the Monster of Three Heavens Sasaki Isaburou. The incident with the Mimawarigumi caused him to sustain great injuries and he has been confined to the hospital bed to rest.

When he looks back on the incident now after the smoke has cleared up, he feels like there were many things he could have done to fix the mess in a more efficient manner. However, he doesn’t regret how things play out at all. He managed to give Tetsu his much needed push to walk forward and overcome the walls in his life, and that’s all that matters.

The hospital door swings open. A black-haired man stands in front of the opened door, saluting him. “Vice commander. Yamazaki Sagaru, reporting in.”

“Oh, Yamazaki. Come in.”

Yamazaki closes the door behind him and walks to Hijikata’s bed, carrying a stack of documents. Truthfully, he doesn’t want to give a sick person more work, but Hijikata claims that working actually helps him rest better. Yamazaki can’t understand the thinking process of a workaholic, but he has no other choice since his demonic superior threatened him to do so.

“Vice commander, these are the documents you requested.”

“Good work. Just leave it there.” Hijikata points at the wooden desk on his bed. Yamazaki obliges, placing it on the empty space near the inkpot.

“Are you writing a letter, sir?” Yamazaki asks, looking back and forth between the empty letter and the man lying on his back.

“Yeah. Can you pick up the paper airplane on the floor? It should be beside your foot.”

Yamazaki picks up the paper airplane and hands it to Hijikata, who mumbles his thanks. He watches Hijikata who is looking at the airplane in his hand intently. Yamazaki clears his throat. “Who are you writing it to, vice commander? ...Who is Thorny?”

“Don’t look at someone’s letter like that. Do you want to commit seppuku?” Hijikata retorts lazily. He is still looking at the paper airplane like it’s the single most interesting thing in the whole world.

“Well, there is nothing written on it in the first place.” Yamazaki complains weakly. Hijikata gives him a cold glare, and he gulps. “A-anyway. May I ask why you are suddenly so interested in the Joui war?”

Hijikata stops playing with the airplane.

Feeling encouraged by the attention, Yamazaki continues to press the topic. “Is it because of the Yorozuya boss?” 

“If you already know about it, why are you still asking about it? I will make you cut that stomach open for asking pointless things.”

“T-to think that the Yorozuya boss is actually the Shiroyasha! The world is full of surprises, right, vice commander?” Yamazaki laughs awkwardly, pretending not to hear the threat.

“I always thought he was suspicious. It doesn’t surprise me.” Hijikata says, closing his eyes.

After all, all the hints are there. You have a monstrously strong silver haired samurai casually hanging around known Joui patriot and war hero Katsura Kotarou, and that mysterious samurai is apparently close enough to the Rampaging Noble to call him by a nickname. Hijikata always suspected that Gintoki is more than what he seems, that he probably has ties to Joui rebels or other radical movements considering his recklessness and general dislike of authority. 

But he never guessed that Gintoki was the Shiroyasha himself. 

It was not like he never entertained the thought, but it was mainly speculation on his part. But that night on the rooftop, that asshole actually admitted it himself.  Even days later, Hijikata still vividly remembers that self-assured smirk the bastard had on his face as he taunted him into action. _ “Come, demonic vice commander. You’re up first. Let’s see if you can take the head of the Joui patriot, Shiroyasha.” _

Under normal circumstances, if you were surrounded by enemies in a secluded place and happened to meet someone you knew only to hear him casually declaring that he wasn’t planning to be your ally and admitting to be an infamous bloodthirsty warrior, it would be soul-crushing. However, when Hijikata heard that, he felt strangely relieved. Relieved enough that he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Is that so? Well, I thought the boss is an eccentric person but he’s not all that bad.” Yamazaki says. “If he was fighting in the war back then, that would explain his strength. He has a lot of hands-on experience.”

“Yamazaki, other than the documents we have on the headquarters, did you find anything else concerning that perm head?” Hijikata asks suddenly.

“Nothing in particular, sir. Information about the Shiroyasha is hard to come by. I tried contacting various police forces, even getting information from the ronin, but there is close to no new information about him.”

Hijikata groans. “That’s what I figured.”

“We can always ask the man himself.” Yamazaki suggests.

“Are you stupid? Why should we do that?”

“Well, the vice commander is very intrigued about the boss, right? If you want to hear about his past as the Shiroyasha, you can always ask him-” Yamazaki’s words are cut short when he realizes Hijikata’s wrathful face glaring at him.

“Oi, Yamazaki. It looks like you are tired from living, huh? Okay, put on your white kimono, I would be glad to serve as your beheader when you commit seppuku.” 

“I am sorry! I will be leaving now!” Yamazaki bows down and hurriedly leaves the room, closing the door loudly behind him.

Hijikata sighs. 

He knows Yamazaki was right. Information about Shiroyasha is indeed very hard to come by. Unlike other famous Joui heroes whose names are written clearly in history books, the Shiroyasha is a stuff of legends. Katsura Kotarou and Takasugi Shinsuke were troop leaders, their men constantly boast about their capable generals to anyone who would listen. Another important member, Sakamoto Tatsuma, negotiated with various organizations and secured funds for the troops, the many documents he signed were proof of his involvement in the war.

The Shiroyasha, however, didn’t leave any trace behind. He entered the battlefield suddenly like a storm, rampaged like a demon, and left behind nothing in his wake but corpses. The Joui patriots talked of him as if he was a demon himself, an divine protector sent by the heavens to punish the wicked Bakufu and amanto- a Yasha. The propaganda that a demon entered the war to side with the rebels did nothing but to fuel the legends surrounding the warrior. The demon’s real name is unknown. Even if you search in all of the history books or contemporary newspapers, information about the Shiroyasha is scarce. At most, it would only mention him as a strong fighter who fought with Katsura and Takasugi. People began to doubt his existence in the first place, claiming that it was only rumors made up by the Joui patriots to scare their enemies.

However, the Shinsengumi knows that the man called the Shiroyasha definitely did exist. Hijikata remembered ordering his men to learn about the infamous terrorists Katsura and Takasugi who shook up the new country. They found the connection between the two heinous criminals, namely that they were comrades-in-arms during the Joui war. Their companions were mostly slaughtered, but some survived. One of them, Sakamoto Tatsuma, left Earth to work as a trader in space, and likely wouldn’t ever pick up his sword against the Bakufu. Still, the Bakufu kept an eye out for him. 

The other legend, the Shiroyasha… After the war, he appeared in Edo, where he was arrested by Bakufu officials during the purge after the defeat of Hitotsubashi Narifuyu. No one knew why such a strong warrior was apprehended easily during a purge that had nothing to do with him, but Shiroyasha was captured and jailed. And that’s where the story ended.

No records were found of the man’s stay in prison. The story about the Shiroyasha being captured is suspected to be merely rumors passed after too many cups of sake among the Bakufu officials. No one could verify the truth of it. Even if he was truly imprisoned, he probably died among the countless people thrown in prisons following the war.

But apparently, the Shiroyasha survived.

And he is standing in front of Hijikata’s room door, picking his nose with a bored expression on his face.

“‘Sup, Hijikata-kun. I am coming to visit.”

“Get lost.” Hijikata says instantly.

“Harsh. I am here to wish you a speedy recovery.” Gintoki closes the door behind him and lets himself in. “I saw Jimmy running in the hallway like he just saw a ghost. Even if you are his boss, power harassment is not good, you know?”

“Shut up. If you come here to pick a fight, you should just leave. Who let you in, anyway?”

“Come on, there’s no need to be that annoyed. Look, I come here with a get well soon gift and everything. I am properly coming to visit you.” The Yorozuya places a plastic bag on the foot of the bed. “In case you didn’t know, you can visit someone in their hospital room if it’s still within the visitation time. You probably don’t have friends to visit, so you don’t know that.”

Ignoring the sarcastic remark, Hijikata rises from his sleeping position to sit on the bed. He peers at the content of the plastic bag, furrowing his brows. ”Strawberry milk?”

“Strawberry milk is good for your bones and helps with irritation. Isn’t that nice, Hijikata-kun? It can heal both your wounds and your rotten friendless heart.”

“Whose heart are you calling rotten, you idiot perm head. Yours are more rotten than mine, provided you have one in the first place.” Even though he says that, Hijikata accepts the plastic bag and places it on the bedside table, next to other gifts he received.

Gintoki has made himself home in the hospital room. He drags a plastic chair from across the room and moves it beside Hijikata’s bed. “How’s your body?”

“Injured. The doctors say it should take about a week before I am discharged.”

“As expected of the Shinsengumi vice commander, you are tough.”

“That’s a heavy praise coming from you, Shiroyasha-dono.” Hijikata glances at the man beside him.

Gintoki yawns. “Don’t call me that. I am an upstanding citizen now.”

“No upstanding citizen has dead fish eyes like you, idiot.” The dark haired man continues. “You are one of a kind, you know. To think you admitted your past as a Joui rebel in front of two police forces, I don’t know whether to call you brave or just plain stupid.”

After they finished completely obliterating the Mimawarigumi members on the rooftop, Hijikata approached Gintoki. The silver haired man grinned lazily at him, probably thinking that he would get a pat on the head or whatever going on in that empty brain of his, but Hijikata just smiled at Gintoki and swiftly handcuffed his hands. _"What are you doing, asshole?! I helped you! Don't you think I should get rewarded for this? Oi, stupid mayora!"_ The silver haired man yelled when he saw the handcuffs on his hands. He probably forgot he just confessed to being a legendary Joui warrior in front of a policeman, but Hijikata just shoved him to a Shinsengumi member who arrived as reinforcement to take into custody before instructing his men to change clothes with the fallen Mimawarigumi soldiers to confuse the enemies.

“School kids who lied to their teachers that a dog ate their homework, you who eat disgusting mayonnaise filled crap everyday and subject others to that horrible sight, and me who fought against the country and was branded a rebel, everyone is a criminal. Police can't go arresting someone for petty crimes. Have you no shame?" Gintoki explains, tapping his thigh impatiently.

“One of those is not like the others. One of those is treason.” Hijikata retorts. 

“Come on, Hijikata-kun. Sure, I fought in the Joui war in the past, but so did most people. I am now living on the straight and narrow like a proper Edo citizen.”

“Didn’t you use the Shogun as a ski board during the ski trip? I bet not even the most heinous of Joui rebels like Takasugi would dream of that.” Hijikata points out.

Gintoki buries his face in his hands. “Don’t bring that up. Also, that disastrous ski trip was mostly because of you dirty tax robbers.”

“I wasn’t the one who broke the Shogun’s penile brake. You should be thankful you aren’t dead for that.” Hijikata says. That ski trip should have ended with their heads on spikes, but such a bleak outcome was thankfully avoided.

“The current Shogun is a nice guy, isn’t he? I never thought things would change so much that I am actually owing my life to the Bakufu. How the tables have turned.” 

Hijikata looks at the man beside him. The Sakata Gintoki he knows is the no good boss of the Yorozuya, he is a lazy cheapskate who works his kids like slaves, he gambles and drinks heavily and is frankly an unpleasant guy to be around. But Hijikata knows, begrudgingly, that underneath all that coarseness, underneath his rude exterior, Sakata Gintoki is a man you can count on.  Gintoki will help anyone who comes to him, even if they are total strangers or enemies. He upholds his own brand of bushido, protecting everything he deems worth protecting, even if that means going through hell. Hijikata knows that. He has been protected and guided by that silver sword many times. 

Even though he claims that he can’t stand Gintoki, lately he feels at ease when he sees the Yorozuya. No matter where it is, even if he was gravely injured, alone, and surrounded by enemies, even when Gintoki told him he wasn’t on his side, he felt relieved when he saw that familiar silver head. 

“Why did you tell me that you are the Shiroyasha?” The question spills itself from Hijikata’s mouth before he could collect his thoughts.

Gintoki raises an eyebrow. “I told you back then. No one wanted to save those rapper kids, so I figured I should step in as their senior.”

“Both of us know that wasn’t it. If you just wanted to save them, you would simply save them without making that dramatic reveal.” Hijikata presses on.

“If you know that much, why are you still asking about it? Stupid mayora.” Gintoki sighs. “Listen, idiot, I was there the whole time. Ever since you guys rolled into the parking lot and fought that mail addict, I was there. I saw and heard everything.”

Hijikata says nothing. Truthfully, he knows why Gintoki did such a risky move. Gintoki wanted to let him know that he wasn’t alone. He wanted Hijikata to know that he wasn’t the only thorny brat around, that Gintoki was the same as him. Gintoki wanted Hijikata to trust him, from one thorny to another.

“Believe me when I say that I know what it’s like. You and I, we are just two good for nothing brats. Then and now, it doesn't change.” Gintoki finally concludes.

Hijikata laughs again, like he did that night. “You are the worst one of us, though. I was wild back then, but certainly not as wild as you were. Hell, even now you are still running wild.”

“What are you talking about, Hijikata-kun? You picked a fight everywhere you went back then, didn’t you? I was the same. I picked a big fight with the country and lost, though.” Gintoki says. 

The laughing man finally stops his laughter. His tone turns quiet. “No, I was just a brat through and through. Picking a fight with a few dojos and picking a fight with the entire universe. Even a little kid knew which one was lamer.”

“Don’t make it out like I was doing something heroic in that war. It was nothing but a pointless exercise with nothing to gain.” Gintoki scratches his head with a troubled expression on his face.

“What happened?” 

Gintoki gives him a wry smile. “I realized how weak I was.”

Hijikata waits for the man to continue, but he doesn’t. He probably doesn’t want to dwell anymore on that topic, so Hijikata turns the conversation away. “Since you are the Shiroyasha, that explains your connection with Katsura. Are you acquaintances with Takasugi too?”

Gintoki looks like someone gives him spoiled food to eat because his face suddenly turns sour. “Yeah.”

“What is that response? Do you know him or not?” This could be a chance for Hijikata to sniff out the rebels and he intends to make full use of it. Katsura is a dumbass and spotting him in the city is very easy because the long haired man lacks the concept of common sense and stealth, but Katsura is very good at running away and evading capture. Takasugi, on the other hand, is very elusive. Not even Hijikata has the pleasure to meet the man himself. 

“I know him, damn it. Look, if you want information on that guy, ask anyone else because I don’t know anything about his whereabouts. For Zura, you can fling a cat anywhere in Edo and it will probably hit him because he’s an idiot.”

“Why don’t you know anything about Takasugi? Does he not contact you at all after the war?” 

“Hijikata-kun, I beg you, stop talking about Takasugi. Gin-san’s stomach is aching like crazy.” Gintoki doubles down on his seat, holding his stomach in an exaggerated manner.

Hijikata rolls his eyes, annoyed. “Why are you avoiding the topic? What, did something happen between you two?”

“Ouch, ouch, my stomach hurts! Hey, can I press the nurse call button? I am going to die here! I want a pretty nurse to look at it, I think there’s a hole in my stomach!” Gintoki approaches the bed, trying to search for the nurse call button.

“Behave yourself, idiot! This is a hospital!” Hijikata shoves his hand into Gintoki’s face, stopping him from advancing further.

“Look at yourself! This is a hospital, so why are you interrogating me like we are in your headquarters?” Gintoki fights back, his hands roaming the bed in search of the nurse call button. Their little scuffle is stopped when Gintoki feels something on the bed. He looks at the object in question, a paper airplane with the words _ “To Thorny” _ written on its side. 

When Hijikata sees Gintoki looking at the airplane, he mentally berates himself for not hiding it when he had the chance. Hijikata being Hijikata, he decides to play it cool. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” Gintoki replies, lifting the paper airplane. Suddenly, he turns around and looks at Hijikata. “I went with Tetsunosuke-kun to your hometown to meet your brother.”

That surprises Hijikata. “Tetsu forced you to, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. He paid me, though. It was a fair job.” Gintoki says.

“Did my brother say anything?”

Hijikata watches Gintoki as the silver haired man throws the airplane across the room. “The dead don’t talk, idiot. You know him better than I do. He probably felt the same as he did whenever he received your letters.”

“Is that so? That’s nice to hear.” Hijikata closes his eyes once more. He hears shuffling sounds, probably Gintoki running to fetch the paper airplane and a soft thud. Hijikata opens his eyes to the airplane landing on the desk in front of him.

Gintoki is standing in front of him, directly looking at the bedridden man, with only the bed serving as a barrier between them. The silver haired samurai is looking at him with an almost gentle expression, different from his usual shit eating sadistic grin or pissed off expression whenever they are together. “Hijikata-kun, no good brats are the same wherever they are, huh?”

“What is it now?” Hijikata watches the man in front of him as he moves from his spot and takes his seat beside him. “You are so fixated on the no good brats thing. Who was it again that claimed he is an upstanding citizen now?”

“What else can I say? I do find myself drawn to good for nothings and thorny brats. Bad boys like us have certain charms, right?” The Yorozuya smiles in a mischievous manner, his red eyes glinting. 

Hijikata coughs. “You are being very annoying, you know that, right?” 

“What? I am just saying the truth. Bad boys are hotter. I mean, look at me.” Gintoki pats his chest proudly, winking. Hijikata isn’t impressed.

“No one in their right mind would call you hot.”

“There are plenty, damn it. Anyone with eyes can see how handsome, charming, and irresistible I am.”

Before Hijikata can retort the dubious statement, a knocking sound resounds in the room. Opening the door slightly, a nurse peers into the room. “Hijikata-san, Sakata-san, I am sorry but the visitation time is almost up. Sakata-san, you need to leave the room so Hijikata-san can rest.”

“Oh, it’s that time already? Man, it sure was fast. Don’t worry, I will be leaving soon.” Gintoki waves his hand to the nurse. The nurse bows and closes the room door. “Well, that’s it. Looks like I need to go back now. Are you okay by yourself in this empty room?”

“Good riddance. I am fine. You should get lost now, idiot perm head.” 

“Are you sure? What if they have ghosts here in this hospital? Can you handle it? Are you sure you don’t need Gin-san?”

“W-what ghosts? A scaredy cat like you wouldn’t be any help to me. You would probably freak out too much and pass out on me.”

“Like hell I would!” Gintoki yells before regaining his composure. “Damn, time passes like a F1 car when I am with you. I still want to talk more.”

“Why are you making it out like I am going to die?” Hijikata asks, annoyed.

Gintoki pays him no heed before continuing. “I heard that you used to have long hair back then. Was that true? Do you have photos?” 

“I don’t.” Hijikata states coolly.

“Ah, what a shame. In that case, can you grow it out?” Gintoki looks at him with a serious expression. 

“No way in hell.”

“Now I regret never meeting you back then. If I can go back in time, I would probably go visit you in that countryside of yours. I want to see young Hijikata-kun in a ponytail.” Gintoki smirks, throwing his hands to the air like he has resigned himself to the cruel fate.

Hijikata finds himself flustered by that remark. “Get lost already, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t need to tell me.” Gintoki rises from his seat. “More importantly, is my reply ready yet?”

“What are you doing-”

Gintoki picks up the letter on the table, chuckling when he sees that there is nothing written on it. “I never thought that you are thinking this highly of me, Hijikata-kun.”

“What do you even know?” Hijikata asks.

“Nothing much.” Gintoki folds the empty letter in half and shoves it into his kimono. “Well, expect a reply within a week then.”

“There is nothing to write about.”

The silver haired samurai stops in front of the door. Gintoki turns his head around once more to look at the man on the hospital bed, grinning. “Precisely. I will be leaving then, Thorny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at Gin-san subtly trying to flirt with Hijikata who just doesn't recognize the attempts......... press F for our boy :(
> 
> When I rewatched the arc, I saw so many parallels between their childhood. I keep thinking that Baragaki arc is definitely when things reaaaally begins to change between them. The fact that Hijikata can't write anything to Gintoki, just like he did with his brother, is proof that their bond is so deep and they don't need words to communicate it.


	7. Coffee shops are the least romantic place on Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (In which Gintoki works in a coffee shop and Hijikata is his customer because no rom com is complete without at least one cliche meeting in a coffee shop)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am adding a coffee shop romance chapter to my canon compliant fic. No, I don’t regret it. Enjoy :D

The coffee shop is crowded. That’s to be expected, considering it’s lunch hour and everyone needs their second caffeine boost to last them through the busy day. The coffee shop, “Coffee Over Dango” is a charming combination of a minimalistic coffee shop and a traditional dango shop, and its strategic place in one of the busiest streets of Kabuki-cho earns it a well-earned spot as one of the most popular coffee shops in town. Not only locals, people from outside the town also visit it, particularly young people who love trendy things and showing off to others that they love trendy things.

Because of the shop’s popularity, it’s to be expected that people flock to it like moths to a flame. The elderly owner who repurposed his old dango shop at the behest of his family into a modern coffee shop never dreamed of this sudden stroke of fortune, and he certainly never dreamed that there would come a day when all of his employees suddenly fell sick and unable to come to work. 

Luckily, in that very same town, another shop exists. It’s certainly not popular or trendy, but the people running it would do anything for money. Including coming to help out in the coffee shop at such short notice.

“Welcome to Coffee Over Dango! What can we do for you?” Shinpachi’s voice could be heard over the counter as he greets the young woman in front of him.

The young woman mutters softly under her breath. “I-I would like a caramel macchiato, please.”

“Of course.” Shinpachi nods and scribbles down the order on the cup. “Can I ask for your name?”

“Oh, right. I am sorry. It’s Yui.” 

“I see. Yui-san, please wait until I call your name, okay?” Shinpachi smiles at the young woman.

“Thank you.... Shimura-san.” The woman nods bashfully.

Shinpachi feels like someone shoots him with a love-tipped arrow. He frantically clutches his chest, nearly dropping the empty plastic cup in his hand. _W-w-why does she know my name? No way, do I know her from somewhere? Maybe the temple school I went to back then? Or maybe she was a previous Yorozuya customer? No way, did she remember me?_

A certain man catches the cup before it falls to the ground, clicking his tongue in an impatient manner. “Stay focused, Pattsuan. Remember, you are wearing a name tag.”

“G-Gin-san!” Shinpachi shrieks. He doesn’t realize the presence of the silver haired man beside him.

“Geez, don’t leave me to handle this hungry masses by myself and go to dreamland all by yourself. We are stuck together here.” Gintoki turns the cup around and reads the instructions on it before moving to prepare the drink. “Keep that adolescent thoughts in your brain until the shift’s over.”

“What are you implying-” Shinpachi’s retort is cut short when the next customer clears his throat. Shinpachi turns around to face the customer, apologizing before taking the order.

The Yorozuya Trio are working in the coffee shop on a request made by the owner. The owner used to give them free dango a lot back when the shop was still a dango shop and it’s only right to repay the favor. Not to mention they still get paid for doing this job. The Yorozuya fully intended to take the work seriously. Shinpachi, always rational and friendly and definitely won’t inadvertently offend the customers unlike his two partners, handles the counter. Despite his look, Gintoki is actually able to cook well, and is entrusted with the task of preparing the orders. Kagura is supposed to help Gintoki, but after the pastries mysteriously disappeared in a freak accident (is it still considered a mysterious accident if everyone knows who is the culprit?), she was made to stand outside the shop to promote the shop to passerbys.

Kagura was supposed to get more people to enter the coffee shop, but she did a little too good of a job of getting people to enter the coffee shop because she literally dragged people by the necks, filling the shop instantly. In the end, the owner gave her a plate of dango and told her to sit in the back like a good girl.

The girl in question is munching her dango, occasionally handing things to Gintoki who is busy with work like a little assistant. “Gin-chan, I want to go home. How much longer?”

“You are literally doing nothing except eating free dango. I am the one who wants to go home.” Gintoki complains.

“But it’s so boring!” Kagura whines. “I want to do something too! Hey, let me handle that grinder thingy.”

“Over my dead body, brat. You will destroy it in three seconds flat. Here, have a donut and be quiet.”

Kagura accepts the donut. “Hey, Gin-chan, why is Shinpachi so fidgety?”

“You see, Kagura, the longer you talk to customers, your HP will go down faster and faster until it finally reaches zero. Then you are out and you will turn into a zombie.” Gintoki explains half-heartedly. “Iced coffee for Natsume!”

“So customers are like those health draining bosses in RPG games?” Kagura asks.

“Correct. Terrifying, right? To fight those monsters, you need the skills ‘fake smile’, ‘bottomless patience’, and ‘may God prevent me from punching this bitch’.” Gintoki continues. "Café au lait for Sanada!”

“Can you stop teaching nonsense to Kagura-chan, Gin-san?” Shinpachi turns around, annoyed. “And don’t say things like that in front of customers. We could get in trouble for that!”

“See, Kagura? Shinpachi’s HP is drained and now he’s just a sad hospitality zombie. Look at his dead eyes.”

“Ah, I see! Shinpachi, are you okay? Do we need to replace your glasses to restore your health?”

“Like I said, stop it with this nonsense! This is how I normally look!” Shinpachi yells, but a finger timidly tapping on his shoulder causes him to swallow his anger and turn around back to the counter, ready with his best customer service smile.

“Um, excuse me. Is my order ready yet?” The young woman from before asks.

“Ah!” Shinpachi worriedly casts a glance to Gintoki, who shoves the order into his hands. “Of course. Caramel macchiato, right? Here you go, Yui-san.”

“Thank you very much, Shimura-san. I am sorry for the bother.” 

“Ah, no. I apologize for taking so long. Enjoy your drink.” Shinpachi hands over the order to the young woman, who accepts it gratefully. Their fingers touch for a moment and Shinpachi feels his cherry boy brain frying.

“You too… Ah, I am sorry!” The young woman quickly places her hand on her mouth, as if trying to take back the words but the damage is already done.

“It’s okay, I get that a lot-” Shinpachi tries to laugh it off but the young woman already runs away, embarrassed. Shinpachi stands behind the counter with a dazed expression on his face.

His daydreaming is interrupted by Kagura’s annoying whistle. “Ah, Shinpachi is turning red! Way to go, Shinpachi!”

“S-shut up, Kagura-chan!” Shinpachi protests, his face burning.

“She called you by your name and you went red!” Kagura laughs, pointing at the flustered young man.

“I did not!”

“No, you did!”

“Don’t get too noisy, brats. We are still working.” Gintoki places his hand over his ears. Grumbling, Shinpachi continues to take the orders, ignoring Kagura’s laugh.

“Gin-chan, don’t people usually have chance meetings or something in a coffee shop like this? I read it in manga.” Kagura asks, tugging the silver haired man’s sleeves to get his attention after realizing that Shinpachi has shifted back into work mode and won’t respond to her taunts anymore.

“That kind of cliche shit doesn’t happen in real life. Listen, anyone who writes coffee shop romance definitely never worked in this business. For us servers, customers are enemies. Open your eyes, Kagura! That’s our blood and tears they are drinking! Don’t expect that fuzzy, rose-colored romance will bloom in a coffee shop, the only things you will get from this job are disdain and nihilism towards life.”

“Seriously? But Shinpachi and the caramel girl were blushing and everything!” 

“That’s because Shinpachi is a teenage boy and teenage boy will blush at any and everything. The girl was probably just having second hand embarrassment. No one enters a coffee shop hoping for anything other than, well, coffee.”

Kagura tilts her head, confused. “But why are there so many romance stories about coffee shops?”

“Listen here and listen well, Kagura-chan. Coffee shop romance is the single most unrealistic trope in fiction. Waking up to a naked alien girl on your bed is more plausible than a barista falling in love with a customer.” Gintoki concludes.

“I see! So Shinpachi is being delusional and unrealistic!” Kagura nods her head enthusiastically.

“You guys know I can hear you, right?” Shinpachi asks in a tired voice. The coffee shop has quieted down considerably ever since the rush hour passes.

Suddenly, the trio hears a kindly laughing voice belonging to an elderly gentleman. “Good work, you three. Is everything okay?”

“Save for a few cherry boy delusions, it’s fine.” Gintoki answers. “Still, this coffee shop is more popular than I thought. I am glad for you, owner.”

“Thank you. Honestly, it was never this busy back when it was still a dango shop. I have to thank my grandchildren for giving me such a nice idea.” The owner says fondly.

“You were pretty stubborn about not wanting to modernize the shop. What made you change?” Gintoki asks.

“Well, the time is changing and I am getting old, and business back then was going terribly. It would be a shame if my family’s shop ended in my generation, right? Would you believe it, my grandchildren used to not want anything to do with dango but now they were fighting over the right to inherit this dango shop!” The owner laughs. 

“Get off your high horse, old man. This shop’s name is Coffee Over Dango. It means dango is in the back seat for this business.” Gintoki says, which earns him a foot stomp from Shinpachi.

“I am fine with that, Gin-san. As long as I can make my dango in peace.” The owner suddenly perks up. “I have good news for you guys. The regular workers couldn’t work today, so I asked for you guys to fill in, but a part timer suddenly called me that he is available now. I told him to come and help you guys. Isn’t that great?”

“Thank you very much, owner! To be honest, it is a bit tough handling this job since we are beginners. Having an old hand around would help us tremendously.” Shinpachi claps his hand appreciatively.

“Oh, that works out perfectly. Actually, he’s here already. Hey, can you come over here and introduce yourself?”

A familiar long-haired man in an apron walks out from the back kitchen to the counter area. “Hello, I am Katsura. I look forward to working with you.”

“Ugh, here comes a headache.” Gintoki rolls his eyes.

“Katsura-san!” Shinpachi exclaims in surprise.

“Ah, it’s Zura!” Kagura jumps from her sitting position excitedly.

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!” Katsura drops his usual catchphrase before turning to look at the trio. “What are you all doing here?”

“That’s what we would like to ask you.” Gintoki approaches Katsura. “What is a terrorist doing working in a coffee shop?”

Katsura looks at him as if he’s the weird one by asking that. “I need money to fund my revolutionary activities. I told you to wait for me to finish my shift before you go and attack the Edo Castle, but you didn't listen. You didn't even invite me to play kick-the-can so I snuck in myself.”

“Are you going to use the money given by these poor unassuming citizens to topple the country? Do you feel good when you are grinding coffee beans with those blood-stained hands of yours?”

“I have no other choice. This is for the greater good.” Katsura says solemnly.

“Owner, if I may. It’s better to just fire this guy. Nothing good would come from associating with him.” Gintoki turns around to face the owner, pointing at Katsura.

“Hm, I wonder. Katsura-san has been nothing but a model employee ever since he started working here.”

Ignoring Katsura’s smug expression, Gintoki presses on. “I assure you, this guy is no good. He’s like a harbinger of misfortune.”

“We’ll just see later. Look, a new customer is coming. Shinpachi-kun, you can rest from the counter. Gin-san, since you are already familiar with Katsura-san, can you guys handle it together?”

“Are you kidding me?” Gintoki’s weak complaint falls to deaf ears as the owner ushers both Shinpachi and Kagura away.

Katsura looks at him. “Please take care of me, Gintoki.”

“Whatever.”

* * *

To Gintoki’s surprise, working with Katsura is surprisingly normal. He has witnessed too much of Katsura’s dumbassery ever since they reconnected that he sometimes forgets that Katsura is one of the most intelligent people he knows and Katsura’s status as the brightest pupil in their school wasn't for show. He is fast, efficient, and frankly knows more than him about how to whip out orders. Following the afternoon rush, the trickle of customers who entered the shop are within manageable levels, and Gintoki finds himself getting bored by the idle atmosphere.

“How’s it going, Gintoki?” Katsura asks, his hands propped up on the counter. 

“Great. I found a 500 yen coin on the street this morning.” Gintoki replies. He plays with Katsura’s hair to alleviate some of his boredom, trying to braid it.

“I don’t care about that.” Katsura suddenly turns around, whispering to Gintoki’s ear. “I am talking about you-know-what with the you-know-who.”

“What?” Gintoki furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with me. The you-know-what, with the, you-know-who.” Katsura doesn’t bother whispering anymore, he is shaking Gintoki’s shoulder with each pronounced word.

“What are you talking about? You-know-what? You-know-who? I am not doing any crimes, I swear!”

Katsura sighs. “This is why morons are… Fine, let me spell it out for you. How is your progress with Hijikata?”

“What? No. What?” Gintoki tries to process the words but fails. “I mean, what the hell?”

“Still trying to play dumb, I see. I knew that you are very involved with that demonic vice commander of the Shinsengumi, but then I heard an interesting piece of information from Otae-dono. She said that she spotted you and that Hijikata entering a love hotel together. Oho! What a scandalous development!” Katsura explains, his eyes blazing as he nearly jabs his finger into Gintoki’s eyes.

“It was a normal hotel, not a love hotel!” Gintoki yells out. “No, I mean, it wasn’t like that!”

“I heard it! Gintoki, so you did enter a hotel with Hijikata! To think you have been progressing so much…” Katsura wipes an imaginary tear from his eyes.

“Listen to people when they are talking, will you? We were just eating together! I helped him shake off his stalker by pretending to be his boyfriend!”

Katsura puts on a half concerned, half mocking smiling face that could only be described as annoying as he tries to stifle his laughter. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Gintoki.”

“You know that you are the most annoying little shit on Earth right, Zura?” Gintoki glares at the long haired man.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Gintoki.”

Things have certainly progressed since that day Katsura told him that he is probably crushing on Hijikata. Gintoki spent days, weeks, months denying it but then he realized that maybe he does have a little crush on the dark haired man. Every single meeting with Hijikata makes him feel like he is experiencing something again for the first time, and Gintoki finds himself drawn to the guy. But Gintoki is Gintoki, he is not one to be honest with himself, or to other people. 

Katsura is right. Gintoki likes Hijikata and is unsure about what to do. But like hell he would tell Katsura that he is right on mark about this. Gintoki refused to give Katsura the satisfaction.

Before Gintoki is able to give Katsura a piece of his mind, the coffee shop door violently swings open and a loud booming voice assaults the eardrums of everyone in the shop. “Ahahahahaha, Kintoki! Looks like you are working hard!”

“Tatsuma, what are you doing here?” Gintoki asks after registering the sight of Sakamoto inside the coffee shop, laughing like a mad man.

“I have business on Earth so I decided to come and hang out. When I went to your place, it was empty and the granny downstairs told me that you are working here.” Sakamoto explains. He walks towards the counter, stopping in front of the two men.

“Sakamoto!” Katsura exclaims in a surprised tone.

“Oh, Zura is here too? What a coincidence, I was going to visit you after this. So you all are working here?” Sakamoto pats the two men’s shoulders good-naturedly. 

“I am just helping out because they need extra help.”

“I am working part time here. Securing funds for the Joui movement is hard.” Katsura replies. “Raising money isn’t as easy as it looked like when you were the one doing it, Sakamoto. How about you join us in the Joui and show us that magic once more?”

Sakamoto laughs. “Thanks, but no thanks! I am now busy with my Kaientai, running around space trading things.”

“If you are busy with your company, why are you casually loitering around right here. Where is your right hand woman?” Gintoki looks around for the familiar figure in a straw hat that usually tails behind Sakamoto, but Mutsu is nowhere to be found.

“Mutsu is dealing with the boring details about the transaction. I am here to catch up with you guys.” Sakamoto proclaims proudly.

“Well, Zura and I are busy working here. You go buy something or I will kick you out.” Gintoki says, pointing at the door.

“Okay, okay, I get it! Don’t kick me out. Zura, what’s today's recommendation?” Sakamoto peers up at the menu board above the counter.

“Zura, give Mr. Company President the most expensive drink on the menu. Make sure he tips 100% or we will skin his ass.” 

“What is this, a rip off coffee shop?” Sakamoto complains. Nevertheless, he pays for whatever Zura orders for him and dumps a generous amount into the tip jar. “Can I get a smile from my favorite boys too while we are at it?”

Gintoki flashes him a slasher smile before starting to work on the order. Katsura shows a more genuine smile before adding. “Sorry, Sakamoto. We are still working here, so you probably have to just sit around until our break. Oh, Leader and Shinpachi-kun are here too. Shall I call them?”

“You don’t have to do that.” The elderly owner approaches them. “It’s okay, Gin-san, Katsura-san, you guys can take a break. I was about to tell you that it’s time for your break anyway. Feel free to talk with this fellow as long as you want.”

“Owner, is that alright?” Gintoki looks up from his work to see the old man nodding at them.

“Thank you very much.” Katsura says.

“Don’t worry about it. If I need extra hands I will just call you. It’s nice to have friends coming to visit, you shouldn’t waste it.” The owner laughs kindly, waving his hands in dismissal.

After handing the drink to Sakamoto, Gintoki and Katsura finish their shift and take off their aprons. Shinpachi and Kagura come out from the staff resting area and greet Sakamoto, who waves his hands wildly at them, before resuming their job. The coffee shop is still very idle and not many customers come to visit. The owner says it’s likely to stay idle, at least until the evening, and tells them to take it easy in the meantime.

“So, how’s life?” Sakamoto asks, looking at his two friends. The old friends are sitting in a window side booth near the back of the coffee shop.

“Broke, but sexy.” Gintoki replies.

“I am wanted by the state.” Katsura says.

Sakamoto slurps down his fancy sugary drink. “Sounds tough.”

“I know.” Katsura sighs. “But I believe that in time, this country will see the dawn.”

“Yeah, whatever. Tatsuma, what about you?” Gintoki looks at Sakamoto, who is trying to add more sugar into his drink.

“I still get motion sickness when I ride on ships.”

“Okay, so nothing changes at all. We are still idiots.” Gintoki leans back on his seat, glancing at Sakamoto and Katsura.

Hearing that, Katsura suddenly makes a weird jerky movement and leans forward on his seat, visibly excited. “Oh sure, Gintoki. Nothing changes at all, except for that one tiny little thing you forgot to mention.”

“What tiny thing? Your brain?” Gintoki rolls his eyes. An excited Katsura is never a good sign.

“Oh, it’s that thing! That one thing we were talking about before Sakamoto entered the shop!” Katsura wiggles his eyebrows and Gintoki struggles to not choke the man in front of him.

“Huh, what? What did I miss?” As if he senses something interesting, Sakamoto leans forward, and the two men are invading Gintoki’s personal space like two annoying pests.

Chuckling maniacally, Katsura makes an exaggerated gesture as if he knows the deepest secrets of the world. “You see, Sakamoto, Gintoki is-”

“Gintoki is tired of you two dumbasses talking inches in front of his face!” Gintoki violently shoves the two men away from his personal space.

“Ah, you ruined it! Kintoki, what gives?”

“Yeah, Gintoki, what gives?”

“What gives? You two are giving me a headache is what!” Gintoki groans, massaging his temple.

“Ignore that old man. Zura, continue.” Sakamoto tugs at Zura’s sleeves, but the long haired samurai ignores him instead.

Katsura is looking at the town scenery reflected on the window with a dumbfounded expression before kicking Gintoki’s legs below the table. “Gintoki, look at that.”

“What?” Gintoki turns to look at the window before his eyes immediately widen in surprise. “Holy shit. Zura, hide quickly.”

“And miss the show of the century? I don’t think so. Gintoki, it’s your chance!” Katsura shoves Gintoki out of their booth.

“What do you mean it’s my chance-”

“Look, just greet them!” Katsura stands up from his seat and drags Gintoki in front of the entrance right in time before the door swings open.

“Welcome!” Shinpachi’s voice greets the customers before the glasses wearing boy blinks. “Huh? The Shinsengumi?”

The three top ranking Shinsengumi members are standing in the coffee shop, looking slightly out of place with their katanas and proper black uniforms. Kondou, Hijikata, and Okita are looking at them with inquisitive expressions, seemingly unaware that their presence in the shop raises questions too. They certainly don’t look like the types who would frequent trendy coffee shops.

Gintoki passes over Kondou and Okita and finds his gaze glued on Hijikata’s figure. The vice commander is glancing over the shop’s interior, looking as sexy as he usually does. Why is this dumb man so hot and effortlessly good-looking? Look at the way that unlit cigarette is still hanging on his mouth. This place is a no smoking area, damn it. Gintoki feels something on his stomach that makes him feel like he would do something stupid, like he would throw that cigarette to the ground and crash their lips together. Gintoki restrains his worldly thought.

“Oh, it’s the Yorozuya.” Kondou nods at the trio.

“Are you guys working?” Okita asks, looking at the three people in identical white shirts and aprons, except for Gintoki who doesn’t have time to wear his apron because of Katsura who dragged him suddenly.

“Yes, we are helping out in this coffee shop because of a request.” Shinpachi explains.

Away from the counter, in a tiny booth that is occupied by two men who are trying to hide themselves from sight, Sakamoto asks Katsura beside him. “What was that all about, Zura?”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. Just watch, Sakamoto, something interesting is going to happen.” Katsura chuckles evilly. Sakamoto doesn’t understand the reason behind his laugh, but the brown haired man decides that it’s better to join Katsura in his laughter as a display of solidarity. Soon, their booth is filled with ominous laughter.

“What are those people doing?” Hijikata looks at the direction of the booth, his eyes narrowing.

Mentally slapping himself, Gintoki knows he needs to clean up his friends’ messes. He moves in front of Hijikata, blocking the view. “Oi, oi, what are you doing here? Are you going to waste taxpayers’ money on fancy coffee? Don’t joke with me, dumb cops.”

“Hey, what kind of coffee shop is this? I can’t believe they let rotten guys like you work here.” Hijikata retorts back.

“As for us, we don’t serve unidentified lifeforms who eat mayonnaise as their primary source of nutrients here. This is a coffee shop for humans. Go back to your mayo planet, mayo.” Gintoki says. _Damn, this mayo moron is so cute when he is mad like that._

“As if I want to be served by a rude asshole like you, mayo. Go burn your hands while you use the coffee machine.”

“I hope you spill your drink and your guts along with it, dumbass mayora.”

“You call this service? You should be ashamed, rotten perm head.”

Shinpachi looks on at the usual back and forth arguments woefully. “Ah, they are at it again.”

“Is that their hobby or something?” Kagura rolls her eyes.

“Come on, Hijikata-san, stop flirting and let us order our drinks soon. We don’t have all day, you know.” Okita calls out in his usual monotone voice.

“We are not flirting!” Two voices in unison yell out.

“Is that so? Then stop eye fucking and just give him your order.” Okita deadpans.

Sensing Hijikata’s rising anger, Kondou tries to diffuse the situation. “Well, let’s just order our drinks peacefully. Let’s see, what should I have?”

Gintoki motions for Kagura to hand him a writing pad and pen. He receives the items and looks up at the gorilla-like man, waiting for Kondou to order.

“I would like a mocha frappuccino.” Kondou finally decides on an order.

“Gorilla, stop trying to act young. Drinking frappuccino won’t make you fit in with the youngsters. This is painful to watch.” Gintoki says as he scribbles down the order.

“Gin-chan’s right! You should act more like your age!” Kagura chimes in from behind the counter.

“Why are you roasting my order?! Just take it normally!” Kondou complains.

“This is our shop’s newest service, we nitpick everything our customers decide on to show them that we care about giving the best service available. We don’t want our customers to lose face because they mistakenly order drinks that don’t fit with their general vibes.” Gintoki calmly explains.

“I don’t need that kind of service!”

“The nitpicking service is on the house so you can’t do anything about it. Okay, next.” Gintoki hands the paper to Shinpachi, who looks uncomfortable hearing Gintoki’s outrageous remarks.

“Oh, right. This is kind of long.” Okita takes a deep breath before continuing. “Green tea frappuccino, no classic or base sweetener, soy to the second line, one scoop vanilla bean, one pump skinny mocha, 4 scoops of matcha, extra ice but the ice should be crunchy and not those big blocks of ice, blended on level three for three times-”

“Are those words?” Kondou whispers to Hijikata, who is trying to drone out the second hand embarrassment.

Gintoki puts down his writing pad, annoyed and ready to kill a man. “Okita-kun, are you even going to drink that? You don’t look like you enjoy that sort of drink.”

“I don’t particularly like it but I figured it would be pretty funny watching you guys struggle to make it.” Okita smiles serenely.

“This man is evil! He’s literally a demon!” Shinpachi gasps, horrified.

“Gin-chan, let’s kick him out!” Kagura makes a punching motion, glaring daggers at Okita.

“Are you sure you can do that? I am the customer here. My words are law.” Okita looks at them with a cold sadistic smile. “You know what, I want that rude girl over there to make it for me.”

“He is the worst kind of customer ever!” Shinpachi looks up at Gintoki. “Gin-san, do something! Kagura-chan is going to seriously beat up Okita-san!”

Gintoki gives Okita a chop to the head. “You will get a normal green tea frappuccino and you will like it.”

“Boss, are you mad? But you won’t be the one who actually makes it, right?” Okita approaches Gintoki and whispers. “I have a photo of Hijikata-san when he was younger. Do you want it?”

Gintoki looks down and sees a glimpse of the photo. The much younger Hijikata in the picture is scowling at the camera, his hair tied neatly in a ponytail. _What the hell that’s kind of cute_ , Gintoki thinks. Before he could grab it, Okita puts the photo back into his pocket. Gintoki sighs. “Okay, Kagura, do your best. Make sure to blend that shit three times.”

“You asshole! What did you do to Gin-chan?” Kagura throws a plate to Okita, who dodges it easily. “He clearly bribed Gin-chan behind the scenes. How could you guys do this to me?!”

“It’s time for you to learn that a coffee shop is a harsh place and not a place to enjoy free food.” Gintoki coughs awkwardly before turning to look at Hijikata. “And what do you want?”

“Just get me a normal black coffee.” The dark haired man says uninterestedly.

“That’s it?”

Okita shakes his head. “Come on, Hijikata-san, make a joke. Order something funny. You are ruining our rhythm here.”

“We are not here to joke around!” Hijikata yells at Okita. 

“Well, considering the second order, it will take some time so please take your seats first. We will call you when it’s done.” Shinpachi smiles his best customer service smile, pointing at the empty booths.

“There you have it! Let’s just sit down first.” Kondou ushers his subordinates to sit in a random booth, and that booth just happens to be next to Katsura and Sakamoto’s booth. Mentally cursing, Gintoki slides along the room after the Shinsengumi members, hoping that they won’t notice Katsura next booth. He stops in front of the Shinsengumi’s booth.

“What are you doing, dumbass?” Hijikata asks the panting man in front of them.

“Just making sure you guys are comfortable and all. Do you need anything else?” Gintoki asks. Even without looking, he knows that his two friends are still on that seat, seemingly unaware of the danger. _Move, dammit, for whose sake do they think that I am doing all this?_

“Yeah, we need you to leave.” Hijikata replies snappily.

“Don’t be that harsh, Hijikata-kun. I am just doing my job here. What about you guys? Need anything else?” Gintoki asks Kondou and Okita.

“We’re fine.” Kondou answers.

“Why did you decide to suddenly go to a coffee shop, anyway?” Gintoki tries again to buy more time for Katsura to escape by making small talks with the Shinsengumi members.

“We wanted to drink something and this place seemed nice enough. Well, turns out you are working here so now I am worried about the quality.” Hijikata says, refusing to look at Gintoki.

“Nah, ignore him, we were just bored. Boss, are you on break? Come sit with us.” Okita throws a meaningful look at Gintoki. “The seat beside Hijikata-san is empty, coincidentally.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Sougo. Yorozuya is working.” Hijikata rolls his eyes.

Okita tilts his head to the side. “I am sure he doesn’t. He is not wearing his apron. I think I saw him sitting around before we entered the shop.” 

“So you were on break earlier? You didn’t have to greet us just because we were coming.” Kondou says before a vague idea suddenly starts forming inside his head. “Oh, unless-”

“What are you even thinking about, Gorilla? I was just going to pick a fight with you guys.” Gintoki fakes a laugh. He sits down beside Hijikata, trying to act as casual as possible. “Yeah, I am on break. Perfect timing. I will intrude on your little gathering.”

Gintoki’s brain is now in panic mode. After that speech he gave Kagura about the implausibility of a coffee shop romance, a chance actually popped up in front of him. It just so happened that his crush entered the very same coffee shop he happened to be working in, and that crush happened to sit beside him after twists and turns. It feels like the universe is teaching him a lesson that he shouldn’t underestimate coffee shops by shoving him right into a cliche meeting.

He accidentally set up a coffee shop encounter flag when he dissed it to hell and back, Gintoki realizes. 

However, Gintoki won’t let this chance go to waste. Fidgeting ever so slightly, Gintoki casts a sweeping glance at Hijikata who is arguing about something with Okita. He needs to do something, he needs to take advantage of this unlikely situation, but the silver haired man doesn’t know what to do next other than annoying Hijikata and hoping that maybe the guy will react to his taunts like he usually does.

 _We are so close, we are so close, we are so close. If I just really casually put my hand around him, will he shake me off? Can I say that it’s an accident? But there are too many witnesses here. Should I just say fuck it?_ Random thoughts run across Gintoki’s head and it causes him to lose sight of his surroundings.

“...that’s what I think. What about you, boss?” Okita asks.

“Huh? Yeah. Wait, what?” Okita’s words caused Gintoki to wake up from his daydream, surprised.

“Did you not hear me? I said that Hijikata-san is being weird right now.” Okita shrugs.

“Yeah, he does seem off. Did you lose your favorite mayo bottle, Toushi?” 

“I am perfectly fine, damn it.” Hijikata denies the accusation, glaring at his colleagues.

“He denies it but pretty much everyone can see he has something on his mind. What do you think, boss?” Ignoring Hijikata, Okita turns to look at Gintoki.

 _For starters, I think he looks downright fuckable_ , Gintoki thinks. He erases that thought and scoffs in an indifferent manner. “Nothing’s changed. He is still the same dour looking guy as usual.”

“That’s rich, coming from a guy who looks like he is dead inside like you.” Hijikata mutters under his breath.

“What was that, punk?”

“I said, that’s rich coming from a guy who looks like he is dead inside like you. Do you need me to repeat it again, grandpa?” Hijikata redirects his murderous glare at Gintoki.

“Who are you calling a grandpa? I get it, my hair is white. Real funny, idiot.” 

“I am not talking about your stupid hair, dumbass. Your loss of hearing is what’s wrong with you.” 

“Whose hair are you calling stupid? Just because you have straight hair, you are getting way too ahead of yourself!” Gintoki approaches Hijikata, pulling his hair. “What kind of shampoo do you use to make it this silky, Hijikata-kun? Is it mayonnaise? You pour mayonnaise on your head?”

Hijikata struggles to shake off Gintoki. The Yorozuya continues to approach him closer, tugging at his hair like an angry elementary schooler, so he has no choice but to retreat further into the booth. “Let me go, dumbass! No one is saying anything about your hair!”

“Hey, cut it out! We are in public here!” Kondou tries to deescalate the situation, but his attempt is ignored.

“Feel good about your hair while you can, by the time I am done with you, you will be bald.” Gintoki says, his hand running through Hijikata’s hair roughly.

“What are you doing-” Hijikata’s protest is cut when he realizes that Gintoki is towering over him. He has been cornered by the red eyed man to the furthest ends of the booth space, the usually unmotivated face is leaning very close to Hijikata’s own. Gintoki is looking at him like a hungry beast, probably still mad because he feels that his silver hair is being insulted. Hijikata glares at Gintoki. "Your nose hair is showing, moron."

Gintoki returns the unfriendly glare with a crooked smile. “Hijikata-kun, you are seriously going to make me mad.”

“Oh? I thought you are already mad, idiot perm head.” Hijikata mocks the silver haired man, challenging him.

“What, are you going to make me even madder?”

Hijikata lets out a sarcastic laugh. “Try me.”

The two men stare fiercely at each other, faces close, their gazes burning with anger and maybe something else. Neither one moves.

Kondou can’t take the strange atmosphere any longer. “Can you guys stop it with the weird hate flirting thing? There are children here!” Kondou yells, covering Okita’s eyes with his hand desperately, despite Okita being, well, Okita.

“We are not flirting!” The two men break out from their staring contest to yell out their disagreement.

“Yeah, they are right, Kondou-san. Hijikata-san and the boss are just rivals. They can’t not pick a fight with each other.” Okita removes Kondou’s hand from his eyes. “I mean, sure enough, rivals invade each other’s personal space like that, run their hands through each other’s hair, and spew out cliche lines like that. That’s normal.”

The somewhat weird atmosphere around their table clears away when Shinpachi arrives with the order. “Honestly, we called for so many times but you guys never came! What happened… Huh, Gin-san, what are you doing here? Where is Sakamoto-san-”

“The tax robbers invited me.” Gintoki interrupts the young man, looking at Shinpachi meaningfully. “Sorry, Shinpachi, and thanks a bunch. We were occupied with… something.”

Shinpachi looks at him weirdly. “I see! Well, enjoy your orders, everyone. Gin-san, whatever it is you are doing, don’t overdo it.”

“I get it, I get it. Go back to your post already.” Gintoki rolls his eyes in dismissal.

“Boss, were you with someone else before this?” Okita stares at the older man. He slurps his infernal drink before scowling. “This tastes like paint water. I am going to complain.”

“Just my friends.” Gintoki replies casually, trying not to sound suspicious. However, Okita already stands up from his seat, and the conversation is set to end.

At least, it was supposed to end peacefully but a certain man decides to ruin everything. “Ahahahaha! Kintoki was indeed talking with me but then he ran away!" Sakamoto approaches them, laughing loudly. The sight of an unfamiliar man in a red coat and booming voice who inserts himself freely into the conversation causes the Shinsengumi members to look at the man in question with eyebrows raised. Gintoki buries his face into his hands, exasperated.

“And who would you be?” Hijikata asks cautiously.

Gintoki rises from his seat. “Don’t mind him. He is just a passing idiot.” 

“What, don’t be so cold to me now, Kintoki! You see, this guy and I are old friends! We are joined at the hips, right, Kintoki?” Sakamoto throws his arm around Gintoki in a friendly manner.

“Don’t call us joined at the hips when you can’t even remember my name correctly, Bakamoto.” 

“My name is not Bakamoto. Kintoki, you ought to remember people’s names properly!” Sakamoto pats Gintoki’s shoulder, not noticing Gintoki’s frustrated face. He turns to look at the Shinsengumi members. “I am Sakamoto Tatsuma, from the Kaientai. Nice to meet you all, thank you for taking care of our Kintoki here.”

“Sakamoto... Tatsuma?”

Gintoki looks at the Shinsengumi members. They appear momentarily stunned, but only for a fleeting moment before their bodies loosen up.

Kondou coughs. “I see. Sakamoto-san, right? Sorry for taking up your friend’s time. I am Kondou, and these are my men.”

“I am Hijikata, and that is Okita.” Hijikata says, pointing at Okita, who is loudly arguing with Kagura in the counter.

“Oh, could you be the infamous Gorilla who stalks around the hostess club Smile?” Sakamoto eagerly asks, looking at Kondou. 

“How did you know? Are you a regular too?” 

“Yeah, if I happen to come back to Earth, I always visit the club.” Sakamoto laughs.

“Oh, what a coincidence!” Kondou says, offering his hand to the man. A sense of camaraderie is forming between two of the most annoying and stress inducing hostess club visitors.

“So that’s the Dragon of Katsurahama, Sakamoto Tatsuma.” Hijikata looks at the brown haired man before turning to Gintoki. “To think I would meet two legendary Joui warriors in one day. What luck, eh, Shiroyasha?”

Gintoki groans. “Tatsuma and I are proper law-abiding citizens right now. Lay off him, would ya?”

“Sure, but what about the rest? Don’t tell me that you were having fun Joui tea time with Katsura and Takasugi in this coffee shop before this?”

“We didn’t.”

“Suspicious.”

“I am telling you, we didn’t!”

“Gintoki is right. He was just passing time with Sakamoto and I.” Katsura’s voice could be heard from behind them.

Gintoki turns around, horrified for a split second before taking in Katsura’s new eccentric appearance. Katsura is now wearing Sakamoto’s dark sunglasses, his long hair is tied in a ponytail, and a poorly drawn moustache stuck below his nose. Gintoki looks down at Katsura’s nametag, his name is hastily crossed out, and written over it is ‘ZURABUCKS’. Gintoki remembers how he used to think that Katsura was the smartest whenever he correctly answered Shouyou's questions in class, and tries to no avail to see that prodigy pupil inside this dumbass.

 _Zura, this shit won’t work out at all! Abort! Abort!_ Gintoki mentally screams, exchanging worried glances between Katsura and the Shinsengumi members who are looking at the newcomer.

“Who are you?” Hijikata finally asks. Surprisingly, even the sharpest tool in the Shinsengumi shed doesn’t recognize Katsura’s cheap disguise. Gintoki thanks the heavens that Hijikata is both so stupid and so cute.

“Just a passing barista.” Katsura humbly declares. “Incidentally, I am here to inform Gintoki that his break has ended. Come now, Gintoki. You too, Sakamoto.”

“What?” Gintoki asks, dumbfounded. Before he could protest, Katsura and Sakamoto drag him away from the Shinsengumi to the staff area. Sakamoto kicks the door open, ignoring the ‘EMPLOYEES ONLY’ sign. Katsura doesn’t react at the blatant breaking of the protocol. “Hey, where are you taking me?”

“Be quiet.” The long haired man leads them past the storage area into the staff resting room. Sakamoto and Katsura shove him into the empty room. The door is locked with a loud clicking sound.

“What? Is this the infamous workplace bullying I have heard so much about?” Gintoki yells as Sakamoto and Katsura close in on him.

Ignoring Gintoki’s struggle, Sakamoto places his hands firmly on the silver haired man’s shoulders. “I will cut to the chase. Kintoki, do you like that V-shaped hair guy with the mean glare?”

Gintoki could hear something in his mind that vaguely sounds like a volcanic eruption. “NO I DON’T.”

“You don’t have to yell. And it seems like you do have a crush.” Sakamoto taps Gintoki’s shoulders twice to drive the point home.

“Yeah, he definitely does.” Katsura nods.

“I don’t. I will literally kill you guys.” Gintoki breaks off from Sakamoto’s hold, glaring at his two friends.

“Wow, scary.” Katsura says in a monotone voice. “What do you think, Sakamoto? He is still in denial.”

“At this rate, Kintoki would continue using his caveman techniques forever unless we do something.” Sakamoto rubs his chin, seemingly lost in thoughts.

“Who are you to diss on my technique?! My direct flirting technique is better than a certain shy boy or someone whose first instinct is to yell that he wants to get married and get labelled as a stalker for that!” 

Sakamoto clicks his tongue. “Kintoki, who did you think opened up your path to Takasugi’s legs?”

“You just told him I wanted to fuck him! He avoided me for weeks after that!” Gintoki gives Sakamoto a well-earned kick. “If anything, you nearly ruined _my_ years of hard work!”

“It wouldn’t take you years if you actually did something concrete other than picking a fight with him.” Katsura points out. “You are always like this. I told you, Gintoki, your flirting technique is elementary school level at best. Teasing your crush is not flirting.”

“I didn’t flirt with him.” Gintoki grits his teeth.

“It sure looked like you did. You were clearly undressing him with your eyes when you, what, argued with him.” Sakamoto shrugs.

Katsura coughs. “Anyway, Gintoki, don’t you think you were too aggressive with Hijikata back then? It’s not good to be forceful, you know. You would turn him off.”

“Unless he is a do-M. Have you checked?” Sakamoto chimes in. “Wait, does that mean Takasugi is a do-M too?”

“This doesn’t concern Takasugi in any way.” 

“Oh, it certainly did. You were a total idiot when you flirted with Takasugi back then, just like you are now.” Katsura suddenly grows excited. “Remember this one? When we were still in school together, Gintoki had a crush on Takasugi but he didn’t know what was it he was feeling or what to do so-”

“He passed him a note that just said ‘get out of my school’! You recounted that story so many times I remember it by heart, Zura!” Sakamoto finishes the story, laughing like a madman.

Gintoki feels his cheeks turning red. That one was certainly a big mistake. Even Shouyou told him so, before his teacher made him clean the dojo as punishment. 

“Because you were a dense idiot, it took you so many years. Even though it was clear as day that Takasugi liked you too.” Katsura concludes.

Gintoki suffers in silence. It certainly took a long time for him to even realize that the weird, fluttering feeling on his stomach that he felt when he looked at Takasugi was not hatred, but love. The fact that he enjoyed teasing Takasugi and riling his emotions was not because he hated him, but because he simply wanted the dark haired man to look at him and only him, even if it was just for a moment. It was the reason why he didn’t like it when he saw Takasugi with other people, or being distracted by the man when they were together, and why he kept thinking of that enthralling pair of green eyes when they were not together.

But the past is the past, and now Takasugi is out of his reach. No matter how hard he tried to go back to the past, before things turned to ash, it would never happen again. And he has to live with that.

However, Hijikata is right there, and it was painfully easy to get close to him. That is, if Gintoki stops being an idiot.

“Let’s say, hypothetically, I like Hijikata. Since you guys are so knowledgeable about this, pray tell, what should I do?” In his most disinterested voice, Gintoki asks, acting as if he doesn’t care about the answer.

“Just be yourself.” Sakamoto replies.

“Be nice.” Katsura suggests.

“Zura, it’s not good. Kintoki can’t do both.” 

“Ah, you are right.” Katsura hums. “Okay, first of all, stop being an idiot.”

“Zura, it’s not good. Kintoki and idiocy come as a set, they can’t be separated. It’s like asking Kintoki to drop dead.”

“Ah, you are right.” Katsura hums.”How about you act forward with your feelings?”

“Zura, it’s not good. Kintoki might actually turn into a stal-”

Katsura glares at Sakamoto. “Stop complaining about every single thing! What are you, a mother-in-law?”

“I am just giving my opinions- AH!” A flying door suddenly attacks Sakamoto from behind, causing him to fly and fall into his face. Katsura and Gintoki look at the entrance. The culprit who successfully ambushed Sakamoto is none other than his own trusted right hand woman, Mutsu. Below her straw hat, her impassive face is shadowed, showing a silent fury.

“You good-for-nothing boss. We searched everywhere for you, but you were nowhere to be found. Come, we are leaving.” Mutsu approaches her boss, dragging Sakamoto by the collar.

Sakamoto clings into a locker. “Wait, wait! Mutsu! Let me at least say my farewell to my boys!”

Mutsu looks down at Sakamoto in disgust. “You have one minute before I blow a hole in your chest.”

“I get it! It won’t be long!” Sakamoto dusts off his clothes. He turns around to look at Gintoki and Katsura. “Well, it is too bad that our meeting is cut short like this. If I have time, I would come back to hang out with you guys again. I hope Kintoki reaches third base by then.”

“Go die.” Gintoki instantly replies.

“Be safe up there in space, Sakamoto.” Katsura smiles, forgetting his earlier outburst.

“Make sure to pack up some motion sickness medicine, Tatsuma.” Gintoki says. “But seriously, go die.”

The three old friends share a laugh.

“Gin-san, Katsura-san, it’s time to switch- Wait, what happened?” Shinpachi, who was going to fetch Gintoki and Katsura, stands horrified in front of the doorless entrance. He finally sees the missing door on the floor, and the people inside the room, including two people who are not supposed to be there.

“Oh, it’s Mucchi!” Kagura launches herself at the woman. “Why are you here?”

“I am here to pick up this idiot.” Mutsu sighs. “I guess you are all working here? Sorry for the fuss.”

“It’s okay! Are you going to leave soon? What about some coffee first?” Shinpachi offers.

“Thanks, but we are running late here, thanks to a certain someone. Maybe one day. Oi, let’s go.” Mutsu nods to the earthlings before dragging the still laughing Sakamoto away, who is waving his hands goodbye at them.

“Gin-chan, what were you doing? Why is the door broken?” Kagura asks.

“Tatsuma’s fault. If the owner asks for reimbursement, forward it to the Kaientai.” Gintoki stretches. “Well, then. Let’s get back to work.” 

Katsura follows Gintoki back to the counter. “Wait, what about what we were talking back then in the staff room?”

“We still have work to do, Zura.” Gintoki reminds him.

“Oh, right.” Katsura says. “By the way, do Leader and Shinpachi-kun know about it?”

“No. No one knows anything. Not even the fact that I dated Takasugi. I will shave your precious long hair if you tell anyone about this.”

“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t.” Katsura swears. “Not the fact that you had it bad for Takasugi back then, or the fact that you have it bad for Hijikata now.”

Gintoki looks at Katsura skeptically, before shrugging. If Gintoki can trust Katsura with his life, he can trust him with a secret or two right? Katsura is stupid, but he’s not that stupid that he would actually spill a top secret, right?

At least, that’s what Gintoki believes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am more of a boba fiend than a coffee addict so I frankly have no idea what happens in coffee shops but no rom-com is complete without this absolute iconic tag so...


	8. Kids are honest, adults are not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange encounter with a fortune teller caused Gintoki to turn back into a child and somehow it’s up to Hijikata to babysit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11k words wow can you believe it I can feel my soul leaving my body... I also updated the summary after eight long chapters. Enjoy :D

“Vice commander, are you heading out for patrol?” Yamazaki calls out the figure in the entrance of the Shinsengumi barracks. The plain young man is carrying a stack of documents, surprised when he sees Hijikata in his uniform and sword hanging on his waist. “I thought today is supposed to be your day off?”

“I don’t feel right just lazing around. I am going to patrol for a bit.” Hijikata replies, not looking at Yamazaki.

“As expected of the vice commander, you sure take your work seriously!” Yamazaki says appreciatively. Lately, work has been piling up for the Shinsengumi and everyone is busy with both field work and paperwork, especially Hijikata. Yamazaki can’t help but be amazed that Hijikata still chooses to go out to patrol during his day off. He must have really held their job as protectors of Edo in high regard.

“What, this is the barest minimum I could do as a member of Shinsengumi. I am heading out.” 

“Take care, vice commander!”

Hijikata leaves the barracks hurriedly. He feels guilty at Yamazaki. The reason why he chooses to patrol on his day off is nothing great like that. He just needs something to take his mind off things. Sitting all alone in your room tends to cause your mind to wonder.

His mind is already full of annoying work-related stuff, for example the suspicious movement of Joui rebels, public safety, funding, Sougo who blew up an inn when he was chasing a criminal and the exorbitant amount of reimbursement it caused, and Kondou who was reported once again for public nudity and how it affects the Shinsengumi’s reputation. He only needs to think about that and how to solve it all.

But no, the only thing he has been _really_ thinking about lately is the idiotic face of a certain Yorozuya.

Hijikata resists the urge to bang his head against the nearest telephone pole.

“I must be getting crazy.” Hijikata says out loud. There is no other explanation for this. 

Ever since that day when Gintoki visited him in the hospital after the incident with the Mimawarigumi, he has been thinking of the white haired man more frequently than ever. Before that, Gintoki was nothing more than an annoying, persistent pest that somehow always got tangled up with him and drove him crazy. But then that asshole had to show up and save the day like a classic hero, visited him in the hospital being all caring and shit, and took the empty letter with him. True to his words, Gintoki did send him another airplane with nothing written on it precisely one week after his visit.

He has been thinking of the silver haired samurai ever since. Hijikata knows how to hide his thoughts, but the people closest to him know that something is wrong. Kondou knows that something is wrong with Hijikata, but his gorilla brain can’t comprehend what the problem is. Yamazaki feels that something is off, but he lacks information to guess what it is. But Okita, with all of his sadistic tendencies and sharp wits, correctly guesses that whatever is plaguing Hijikata’s mind is connected to the Yorozuya boss.

Hijikata grits his teeth. That’s why Okita purposefully tried to play matchmaker in the coffee shop. The younger man didn’t do it out of kindness, he just wanted to watch Hijikata being awkward in front of Gintoki.

Hijikata remembers once again the night when Okita suddenly came up to him, and asked bluntly. “Do you like the boss?” Hijikata denied the accusation, visibly panicking as he stuttered no. Okita simply hummed, then he smiled like a demon. “Of course, whatever you say, Hijikata-san.”

Once again, Hijikata resists the urge to bash his head against the wall.

Hijikata stops himself just in time. He sighs before reaching inside his pocket to grab a cigarette and lighter. “How stupid. I need to just focus on my job.” 

That’s right. Hijikata is first and foremost, the vice commander of Shinsengumi. He needs to put his job as the samurai who protects Edo above everything. He has no time for idle trivialities.

“Oi. Fancy meeting you here.”

When he hears the familiar voice, Hijikata freezes. He doesn’t dare turn around to greet the owner of the voice. The dark haired man fears he would do something stupid, or maybe something stupid would happen to him if he turns around.

“Ignoring me? Gin-san’s hurt, you know.” Gintoki says, putting a hand on Hijikata’s shoulder. Hijikata flinches, surprised at the sudden contact. Gintoki withdraws his hand from Hijikata’s shoulder as if he just touches something hot. “Wow. Do you hate me that much?”

“Get lost, I am working.”

“Me too. I am doing a transporting job right now.” Gintoki stops beside Hijikata. From the corner of his eyes, Hijikata could see Gintoki carrying a few wooden boxes.

“Is that so? Then don’t mind me, you can continue working.”

“Why are you so cold today?” Hijikata could hear faint frustration in the man’s voice, and it takes him everything to not look at Gintoki’s face. “Is today that day of the month?”

Hearing the senseless remark, Hijikata turns around indignantly at the Yorozuya, raising his fist like an angry cat. “Like hell it is, stupid!”

“You are finally looking at me.” Gintoki catches Hijikata’s fist with one hand, balancing the boxes on one hand. He smiles at Hijikata. “Good afternoon, Hijikata-kun. Fancy meeting you here.”

Hijikata realizes that he plays right into Gintoki’s hand too late, and literally. His fist is now engulfed by Gintoki’s palm and it all feels so warm that it actually makes him kind of dizzy. Hijikata feels his face turning red, but he bravely tries to put on a defiant face as he glares at the smiling man in front of him. “Let me go.”

“If I let you go, you will start attacking me again, won’t you? I don’t want that. I want to finish this job without injury.”

“I won’t.” Hijikata says through gritted teeth.

“What if I don’t want to?” Gintoki laughs when he sees Hijikata’s wrathful face turns even darker, and his laugh sounds so irritatingly clear in Hijikata’s ears, before releasing his grip. “I am just kidding.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do than harassing me, you rotten perm head?” Hijikata asks.

“If I see someone I know in town, it’s a given that I would greet them, right? Do you not have that custom in Planet Mayora?” 

“I don’t have time to waste on you. I am in the middle of patrol here. Aren’t you working too? Stop standing around like an idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to tell me that, I know.”

Hijikata walks away from the Yorozuya, cursing underneath his breath before realizing that Gintoki is still walking beside him. “What are you doing?”

“Walking.”

“I know that, dumbass. Why are you walking beside me?” 

Gintoki looks at him like he’s the weird one. “I am supposed to transport these boxes to that theater over there. It’s not like I am intentionally following you around.”

“Go walk five meters behind me. I don’t want to catch your stupidity.”

“What was that, mayora-”

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.” A squeaky voice greets suddenly. Gintoki and Hijikata turn to look at the owner of the voice. The voice belongs to a figure clad in black robes who is sitting in what seems to be a fortune teller stand, even though there is nothing on the table save for a single clock. His face too is obscured by a black mask depicting a clock without its hands. Judging from his small figure, this clock mask is either a human child or an amanto with a small figure. 

“Doesn’t this feel familiar? I feel like I have seen this setup before.” Gintoki says, rubbing his chin.

Hijikata ignores Gintoki. “What is it? I am going to ask you to present proper identification and permit to conduct business here.”

“Hehe. If that’s what you want, sure. But I know that’s not what you truly want, dear policeman. Do you want to get your fortune read?”

“I will pass. If you can’t show it, I am afraid I need you to come with me.”

The mysterious amanto chuckles. “You are so dishonest with yourself. No, I say, it’s you two who are not being honest to yourselves. Dear me, it must be so hard for you two. Don’t you agree, silver haired samurai?”

“What, why me?” Gintoki is surprised to hear that he is dragged into this as well. 

“You are still lost, aren’t you? You are crushed by guilt and fear. Poor man, you are torn by the past and the present, unsure on what to do, who to choose. As long as your heart is uncertain, so is the future.” 

Gintoki scoffs. “Don’t try to cheat me into buying into your shady fortune teller crap. Unless your name is Ketsuno Ana, I don’t believe in this fortune telling bullshit.”

“Hehe. I know it all, about the desires in your heart. You are a very greedy man, aren’t you? As long as your heart still yearns about the past, you have no place in the future. Not even in the present.” The mysterious fortune teller suddenly stands up. He is taller than their initial estimation, and his figures grow taller still, unseemly limbs appearing from beneath the black robe. “If you can go back, will it make things easier for you?”

“What are you talking about?” Gintoki feels as if a blizzard suddenly washes over him, causing him to momentarily lose his composure. If he can go back...

“Don’t move!” Hijikata unsheathes his sword. 

The amanto laughs in an unnatural way. “Please relax, gentlemen. I am not going to hurt you. Despite my look, I am a gentle old soul who can’t stand to watch others suffering. Consider this my service to you.”

Hijikata watches, horrified, as the amanto suddenly throws the single clock on his table at them. The amanto jumps towards the sky, nimbly leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Before Hijikata could decide on what to do next, he could feel Gintoki, who was stunned moments before, waking up from his trance to push him away. Hijikata falls to the ground. 

“Oi, moron!”

But it’s too late. Whatever it is the amanto throws at Gintoki, it has exploded mid-air thunderously. White smoke comes out, enveloping the entire area surrounding Gintoki. Faintly, Hijikata could hear Gintoki angrily yelling something that sounds like “What the hell-” but the voice suddenly cuts as if someone muted Gintoki. Hijikata couldn’t hear anything anymore from the silver haired man. The smoke continues to expand, rising until it couldn’t rise anymore, before finally disappearing slowly. 

When the white smoke disperses, Hijikata can’t believe his eyes. Gintoki is nowhere to be seen. In his place, where the man in cloud patterned kimono was supposed to be standing, Hijikata sees the figure of a young silver haired boy in blue kimono sitting cross-legged, clutching a katana. The boy is sleeping, his face is carefree, as if he’s dreaming about something really nice.

“Yoro...zuya?” Hijikata calls out, not believing his sight.

The boy’s eyes slowly open, revealing familiar deep red eyes. The boy blinks, as if trying to register the unfamiliar scenery around him before yawning and closing his eyes again, brushing the strange cityscape around him as simply another part of his dream.

Hijikata is stunned. That messy silver hair, unmotivated red eyes, and lax face, not to mention the unrestrained attitude... Even if the figure is way smaller than he remembers, there’s no way Hijikata would ever forget that distinctive look.

In front of him is Sakata Gintoki, or at least, the Sakata Gintoki from the past.

The Yorozuya has turned back into a child.

It feels like lightning crashes on him. This is the worst situation ever. He couldn’t even handle regular Gintoki, how is he supposed to handle him when he is a brat? Brats are supposed to be way harder to handle than adults, since they are still immature. Hijikata doesn’t know shit about childcare. However, there’s no way Hijikata with all of his sense of responsibility would ever be able to abandon a kid like this. He steels himself, remembering that adult Gintoki is basically a big feral child and this Gintoki is probably not all that different.

First thing first, he needs to wake the boy up. Hijikata carefully approaches Gintoki. “Oi, wake up.”

“Five more minutes.” Kid Gintoki mumbles in his sleep, completely unaware of the predicament he is in. 

“Wake up, Yorozuya.” Hijikata tries again, shaking the boy’s shoulders. Red eyes suddenly snap open once more. Gintoki is now awake, looking a bit dazed, probably still groggy after being woken up. After a torturous half minute of Gintoki trying to collect his thoughts and Hijikata staring at the half-awake boy in horror, Gintoki is finally looking at him. 

However, Hijikata’s relief after he successfully wakes up the boy is short-lived. The boy suddenly leaps up and unsheathes his katana in one smooth motion. Without a moment to hesitate, the boy charges, bringing his sword down on Hijikata with all of his might. The surprise attack takes Hijikata by surprise. Even if he is turned into a child, the Yorozuya is still a skilled fighter. He is able to decisively deliver a near fatal killing blow, aiming for the enemy’s head first and foremost. 

But this Gintoki is still a little brat. Compared to his adult self, this Gintoki is still miles behind in terms of strength and skill. Hijikata catches the sword strike with his own katana. The boy clicks his tongue impatiently and jumps back several steps. He holds the katana in front of him, his little face determined, waiting for another chance to strike.

“Who the hell are you?” Gintoki shouts.

Hijikata feels like yet another lightning crashes on him. It’s as if something heavy and bitter is dropping on him, assaulting his brain, making him unable to think clearly.

Memory loss? 

Does Gintoki experience yet another memory loss on top of being turned back into his child self?

It’s understandable that someone would forget everything that happened to them if they suddenly turned back into a kid, but Hijikata thought that maybe, just maybe, Gintoki still retains his own memories. It feels a bit frustrating that someone who has annoyed him so much, someone he has seen so much of, forgets him just like that. It’s like they are meeting again for the first time as strangers, after everything that happened between them.

Angry because he is ignored, Gintoki asks again impatiently. “Answer me, old man. Who are you? Where is this place?”

Hijikata feels his eyebrows twitch when he hears the rude boy call him an old man. He is still young. This mannerless brat is speaking to his elders in casual speech and using an abrasive tone. There is no denying, this brat is definitely Sakata Gintoki. Memory or no memory, there is no one as shameless as him.

“I am Hijikata Toushirou of the Shinsengumi. This is Edo.” Hijikata answers, restraining himself from giving the boy a chop to the head.

“Edo?” Hijikata watches colors drain from Gintoki’s face. “No way. You are kidding.”

“You are Sakata Gintoki, right?” Hijikata asks. He watches the boy in front of him tenses up again, on alert.

“How did you know my name?” Gintoki casts a sweeping glance at the unfamiliar man in dark uniform in front of him, eyeing him in suspicion.

“Can you tell me how old you are?” Ignoring the boy’s question, Hijikata tries to gauge up information. He needs to know what this boy knows, and what he doesn’t before he can form a coherent plan. This Gintoki is certainly younger, but he can’t guess the age at all. He’s definitely older than 10, maybe 13-14. His voice sounds a little deeper compared to a normal child.

“I don’t have time for that.” Gintoki charges again, determined to land a hit on the stranger. “I have to go back, damn it!”

Facing relentless furious onslaught of sword strikes from the young boy, Hijikata feels as if he’s being attacked by a rabid stray dog. This boy is strong for his age, way stronger than his young age suggests. He’s probably already stronger than most adults. However, his swordplay lacks the rough charm and determination of his grown up self. However, that’s not to say that young Gintoki’s swordplay is lacking hands-on experience, as if he just practiced swordplay within the safe confines of a dojo and never experienced a real sword fight. Hijikata has the gut feeling that this is not the first time this boy has to fight for his life with a real blade.

“Stop it, brat! I am not your enemy!” Hijikata parries another blow. “You probably won’t believe me, but you are turned back into a child after being hit by a mysterious clock!”

“Save that sleep talk when you are sleeping, dumbass old man!” 

Hijikata is trying hard to block Gintoki’s blows without directly harming the boy. He has no problem beating the adult rotten perm head within an inch of his life, but it doesn’t feel right for his morals to attack a kid. “I am serious, damn it! You are an adult, but things happened so you turn into your kid self now because of an amanto!”

“How am I supposed to trust that science fiction crap!” Gintoki shouts. “Do something about this! Why am I here? I need to go back!”

“Like I said, I am not your enemy! I will help you go back! Stop attacking me!” Hijikata yells. He is finally able to corner the boy. Their swords meet, locked together as Hijikata looks earnestly at those red eyes, trying to convey that they are not enemies.

Suddenly, Gintoki lets his sword down. “Assuming you are telling the truth, what are you going to do?”

Hijikata sighs in relief, unsheathing his sword. He said that, but he doesn’t know what to do next. Glancing at the ill-mannered boy in front of him, Hijikata furrows his eyebrows. Obviously the first thing to do when you meet a lost kid is to return them back to their family.

* * *

Hijikata stands in front of the sliding door with a troubled expression. He tried visiting the Yorozuya shop upstairs first, but it’s locked. If the kids aren’t home, he figures that the next best place is the snack shop downstairs, where Gintoki’s landlady lives. But he doesn’t know how to explain the current predicament. Can they even believe that Sakata Gintoki has turned back into a child?

“What are you waiting for?” Gintoki asks impatiently from behind him. The boy definitely looks like Gintoki, down to the brazen expression on his face. No one would have trouble noticing the similarities.

“Nothing. This is your current home.” 

“This snack shop?” 

“No, the Yorozuya upstairs. Your adult self is running a jack of all trades in Kabuki-cho, Edo.”

“Oh.” Gintoki doesn’t sound interested. Hijikata finds it a bit strange that he doesn’t care much for his future. Or maybe he just wants to get this over with quickly so he can go back. The kid was glaring daggers at him when Hijikata took his time delivering the boxes Gintoki was carrying to its original destination. The theater owners were surprised when they saw the vice commander of the Shinsengumi arriving at their theater with an irate looking boy tailing behind him.

The boy was very impatient back when they made their way across town to Kabuki-cho. He kept glancing around at everything with one hand readily on the sword hilt. He was behaving less like a child and more like a country bumpkin who has never been to a big city before, gawking at everything. 

Hijikata opens the door to the snack shop.

“We are closed- Oh, it’s you. What a rare occasion.” Otose greets from behind the counter. Catherine and Tama are tidying up the place. To his relief, Hijikata spots Shinpachi and Kagura sitting on the counter, looking a bit surprised when they see him entering the shop.

“Hijikata-san, what are you doing here?” Shinpachi calls out, smiling his usual polite smile.

“Gin-chan’s not here.” Kagura says in between mouthfuls of rice.

 _Well, of course the Yorozuya is not here, he has turned into a kid and is standing behind me right now_ , Hijikata thinks. “I need your help with… something.”

Hijikata steps inside the shop, and turns his body aside so the boy standing behind him could be seen by everyone in the shop. Kid Gintoki enters the shop and every eyes are glued on the mysterious little stranger with silver hair and red eyes that look eerily similar to someone they know so well. Hijikata closes his eyes and waits for the upcoming ruckus.

Dead silence.

Feeling unnerved by the silence, Hijikata opens his eyes. He sees everyone in the room looking back and forth between them with complicated expressions, a mixture of surprise, shock, and pity. Why are they looking at him with those pitying eyes? The only one they should be pitying is Gintoki who is turned into a dirty brat!

“That Gintoki, he really went and did it.” Otose finally speaks.

“Ah, it’s mini Gin-chan. That’s definitely a product of his twisted DNA.” Kagura says.

“I always thought this is a matter of time before a silver haired bastard shows up. He was lucky last time it was a mistake with someone else’s child.” Catherine scoffs.

“But why is Hijikata-san the one bringing the child over?” Shinpachi asks.

“It’s probably because the vice commander has been taking care of the child. Gintoki-sama probably left him to do it alone because he couldn’t be bothered to do so.” Tama offers an idea.

“Oh.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

Another dead silence before voices suddenly unite to yell out together. “Wait, you two have a kid together?!” 

“Like hell we do!” Hijikata yells furiously, but no one hears his retort.

“Hijikata-san, we apologize on that idiot perm’s behalf.” Shinpachi is now kowtowing on the floor, begging for forgiveness.

“I always thought he was a scum, but I never thought he was this much of a scum. You have been very strong to raise this child alone. It’s okay now. We are here to help you.” Otose has come out from behind the bar to pat him on the shoulder.

“It’s okay, mini Gin-chan, big sister Kagura will be here for you.” Kagura says, patting young Gintoki on the head despite the boy being slightly taller than her.

Hijikata feels like he is going to explode. “Like hell we could have a kid! And definitely not one this big!”

Shinpachi stands up again, looking at the young boy in confusion. “Then, who is this?” 

“Who else? It’s your boss. He has turned back into his child form.” Hijikata explains. He watches as colors drain from the two humans and two amanto’s faces, as if they just heard that the Earth is going to be destroyed.

“NO WAY!”

Throughout the exchange, little Gintoki doesn’t say anything, he simply picks his nose in boredom. His attitude is very reminiscent to a certain someone, and soon everyone realizes that Hijikata was speaking the truth.

“I can’t believe it…” Otose sighs. “That idiot, what kind of mess is he involved in this time?”

“It’s all my fault. The one who should apologize is me. We were walking when this amanto suddenly threw a strange device at us. He pushed me out of the way and took the hit himself, and this happened. If you want to blame someone, blame me.” It’s unusual for Hijikata to lose his composure like that, spilling everything and even belittling himself. The situation with Gintoki is weighing heavier on his mind than anyone would have thought.

“It’s okay, Hijikata-san, that idiot would have done things like that for anyone. You don’t have to berate yourself for this.” Shinpachi tries to comfort Hijikata.

“Yeah, he always gets into these annoying situations and it’s up to us to fix the outcome! Just give him a punch when you see him next time, ‘kay?” Kagura adds, patting Hijikata’s shoulder.

“What, so you were the one who caused this mess in the first place?” The silver haired boy interrupts suddenly. He steps forward in front of Hijikata. “Was it you? You remember what you said, right? You should be the one to fix this mess, old man.”

“I am going to, even without you telling me.” Hijikata answers. 

Gintoki shrugs, as if he doesn’t care anymore now that he got Hijikata’s words. He approaches the counter and takes a seat on an empty chair. “Granny, can I have strawberry milk? You have some, right? That V-shaped hair guy will pay for it.”

Otose can’t help but chuckle. “I see you have been insufferable ever since you were young.”

“He is definitely Gintoki-sama.” Tama agrees.

“Well, looking at this brat, you could see that he would grow up to be a good-for-nothing.” Catherine says.

Gintoki drinks the strawberry milk that is placed in front of him before looking at everyone in the shop. “You guys don’t sound like you like the adult me very much.”

“Oh, we love you! Don’t worry about it. That’s just how it is in Edo.” Kagura says, plopping herself on the seat beside Gintoki, beaming.

“What a strange place.” Gintoki gulps down the rest of the strawberry milk.

Otose turns around to look at Hijikata. “Bring him to old man Gengai’s place.”

“Gengai, as in the criminal Hiraga Gengai?” Hijikata asks cautiously. The man has been laying low ever since the incident where he tried to assassinate the Shogun.

“Oh, I forgot that he’s still technically wanted. Don’t worry, he has learned the errors of his ways. Besides, he is the only one who could possibly save Gintoki with his genius. It’s not like you have another choice.” Otose says. “Shinpachi, Kagura, show him the way. Don’t worry about the bill. Consider it my thanks for helping that rotten perm head.”

* * *

“What is this place?” Kid Gintoki asks once more when they are finally inside Gengai’s workshop, a dimly lit place filled with various machinery and the smell of oil. Strange robots and even stranger machines are littered across the place.

“This is the workshop of Hiraga Gengai, the best inventor in Edo.” Shinpachi explains. “If it’s Gengai-san, I am sure he will be able to help you, Gin-san!”

Shinpachi is sitting beside Gintoki in a corner of the workshop. Kagura is busy exploring the workshop, knocking on robots and other strange devices. Hijikata is standing with Gengai, explaining the situation to the old man. At last, Gengai nods his head and motions for Gintoki to come closer.

“That shitty shameless glare, this kid is definitely Ginnoji. Okay, I get it.” Gengai says. “But I can’t do anything without proper information first.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I had my men investigate the incident first.” Hijikata hands a report to Gengai, who accepts it.

“You sure work hard, don’t you, vice commander of the Shinsengumi?” Gengai looks over the content of the report, his eyebrows furrowing deeper the longer he reads it.

“We managed to retrieve some remains of the clock. It exploded mid air, probably a bomb disguised as a clock or something like that, but some parts of it were salvageable. Here.” 

Gengai takes the remnants sealed in a box. “I am going to need some time to look over everything. How about you guys go somewhere first? I will let you know when I am done.”

Ten minutes later, Hijikata finds himself sitting in a park near the workshop in Kabuki-cho. The kids led Hijikata and Gintoki here to pass the time. Kagura excitedly pulled Gintoki to play together with her and Sadaharu, even Shinpachi, who is now the oldest one, is joining them on a game of kick the can. At first, Gintoki was against playing, but he finally relented and let himself be dragged away, leaving his sword behind.

Shinpachi and Kagura don’t look sad that their boss has been turned into a child. If anything, they look like they are enjoying seeing a side of Gintoki they never knew before. Now that they’re around the same age, being teenagers, the kids are playing together with Gintoki as peers. 

Hijikata glances at the sword on the bench beside him. The scabbard is deep red, and the sword guard has an interesting shape, reminiscent of a four petaled golden flower. The sword looks expensive and well-made, especially compared to the dirty piece of wooden sword adult Gintoki is carrying. Gintoki as a child looks healthy and strong, but his kimono isn’t exactly of the highest quality. Why is a little kid carrying a katana in the first place, anyway?

Hijikata feels that something is terribly wrong, that he is fundamentally mistaken about something. But before he could even guess what it is, he senses someone taking a seat beside him.

“Ah, I am beat.” Gintoki sighs. “Old man, get me a drink.”

“Get it yourself, stupid brat.”

“Whose damn fault was it that I am stuck here in the first place? Be a responsible adult and own up to your mistakes.” Gintoki says. The silver haired boy pulls his legs up and sits cross-legged on the park bench, leaning the sword against his shoulder, hugging it close like a normal child would have done with a favorite teddy bear.

“Here, you can have my coffee.” 

“No, I don’t like bitter crap like that.”

“I will give you money so go to the vending machine over there and buy something.”

Gintoki looks up at him with a blank expression. “What is a vending machine?”

Hijikata buries his face on his hands. He finally stands up and buys a cold tea in the vending machine for the boy. When he finally comes back, he is surprised to find the boy surrounded. Kagura and Shinpachi are arguing with two men who look like local policemen, and Gintoki simply looks at the scene unfolding before him with a bored expression.

“Great, I left for two minutes and that demon child has caused yet another ruckus.” Hijikata hurriedly approaches the bench.

“What are you doing carrying that dangerous thing around? We need you to come with us, boy.”

“Gin-chan is no one suspicious!”

“She’s right, Mr. Officer, Gin-san won’t do anything bad. He’s just a child.”

“A child or not, we can’t let someone walk around with a sword according to the Sword Prohibition Act. We can see that he is probably an ignorant child, so we won’t interrogate you, but we still have to get rid of the sword.” 

The policeman moves to grab the sword, but Gintoki suddenly hisses at him. In an instant, Gintoki’s unmotivated expression turns wrathful like a demon as he spits out his words like venom. “Don’t touch my sword!”

“What-”

Hijikata quickly intervenes before things turn for the worse. The policemen look unnerved by the sudden hostility, the kids surprised, and little Gintoki looks like he is ready to kill people who dares to touch his katana. “What seems to be the problem here?”

“That uniform, are you a member of the Shinsengumi?” 

“Hijikata-san, come help us!”

Hijikata produces his police badge. “I am Hijikata Toushirou of the Shinsengumi. Officers, could you let that boy go? He is my charge.”

The two local policemen exchange uncomfortable glances at each other. There are many police organizations in Edo, and they happen to belong in one situated in Kabuki-cho. They know about the elite military police force, Shinsengumi. If a bigshot from that organization says that it’s fine, it’s probably fine. The braver of the two speaks. “It appears we are mistaken. We apologize.”

Hijikata watches the men bow and leave the scene in a hurry. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I was just sitting there and they approached me. I didn’t do anything.”

“We came when we saw them talking to Gin-chan because we thought something was wrong.” 

“Come to think of it, why are you carrying a sword? Whose sword is that?” Shinpachi asks. Hijikata has been thinking of that too. Normally, if your body is turned back into a child, that does not mean your sword will change appearance too.

“Obviously it’s mine, stupid glasses. I use it to beat stupid people who ask stupid questions.” Gintoki rolls his eyes. 

Shinpachi laughs awkwardly, the corners of his lips twitching. “You know, Gin-san, carrying swords is prohibited in this era. Adult you manage to find a loophole by carrying around a wooden sword, but a real blade is not allowed unless you work for the government like Hijikata-san.”

“Really? That sucks. I bet it’s hard for him to part with this sword.” Gintoki says.

“Is that sword important to you?” Hijikata asks.

“Well, you could say that. My teacher gave it to me.” The silver haired boy replies. When he admits that, suddenly he doesn’t look like the shameless delinquent he is, he looks more like a lost child. “You said you will help me go back, right?”

“I will.” 

There it is again, the weird feeling that something is terribly off. Hijikata could feel himself nearly solving the mystery, to find out the source of this nagging feeling in his stomach, but before he could place it, Gengai has arrived at the park.

The old man was evidently running to get here. He is panting, trying to catch his breath. “I finally found you guys.”

“Gengai-san! What happened? We were just about to go back to you.” Shinpachi is surprised to see Gengai at the park.

“We can’t wait that long! Hurry, we have no time to waste! Earth will be destroyed at this rate!” Gengai furiously says.

“What do you mean?” Hijikata asks, alarmed.

Gengai points at little Gintoki. “That boy… This is not a simple case of Ginnoji reverting to his child form. It’s Ginnoji from the past, in flesh. Somehow, he traveled through time and ended up here.”

“From the past? Then, does that mean, Gin-chan switches places with this kid? He is in the past right now?” Kagura says, glancing at the boy beside her. She doesn’t quite realize the danger yet, but she knows that Gintoki is in trouble, and that there’s nothing she could do. 

“Yes. Messing around with the past could cause fatal consequences. It could alter the future, and our present. If our Ginnoji makes one small change in the past, no matter how slight it is, our present could be destroyed and the entire timeline disappeared for good.” Gengai explains, to the horror of everyone present.

“No way.” Hijikata voices out his disbelief. “Can’t you do something about it? You are the genius inventor, right?”

Gengai sighs. “I have been working on a time machine for quite a long time, but it’s not quite finished yet. Moreover, it’s basically a one way ticket. They switch places, remember? Even if I send little Ginnoji back home, adult Ginnoji would still be stuck in the past unless someone specifically comes to get him, and that won’t be an easy task.”

“Wait, does that mean you can’t get me back? I am stuck here forever? Don’t joke with me!” Kid Gintoki yells out. “Do something about this! I am calling PTA on you guys!”

“Shut it, brat! Gramps, can’t you do something? Gin-chan needs to come back! He could be in danger!” Kagura pleads. She is close to crying. 

“Kagura-chan’s right! We need to do something to help Gin-san! Who knows what sort of mischiefs he could have gotten into! ” Shinpachi joins in. “If he does end up altering the past, then we… the Yorozuya…”

Angry that he’s being cut off, Gintoki looks up at Hijikata. “Old man, do something. You promised you would get me back. Get me back home to Shouka Sonjuku.”

Hijikata looks down on the boy, and the two Yorozuya members. Three lost children and one missing adult. That’s too many cases in one day for one policeman to handle. Hijikata calls out to Gengai. “I will go to the past. I will get both the good-for-nothing adult and good-for-nothing brat home. I promise.”

Everyone looks at him when he says that, and Hijikata wonders whether he has made a big mistake declaring that. But all of a sudden, Shinpachi and Kagura rush into him, pulling him for a hug.

“Hijikata-san, thank you very much! Thank you!” Shinpachi sobs.

“You would go that far for Gin-chan, Toushi? I am sorry for calling you a stupid mayora! Want some sukonbu?” Kagura tightens her grip, crying.

Hijikata feels something tightening in his chest. “Let me go. You are making it hard for me to breath.”

Reluctantly, the kids let him go. They are sniffling now, but they manage to smile again. Hijikata realizes once more the depth of the bond the Yorozuya share, and seeing these two kids without their usual silver haired guardian feels strange and lonely. No, even the entire city of Edo looks different. As if someone has carved out a vital part of the world around them, and now there’s a void nobody could fill. 

And Hijikata realizes that’s how much that man means to him.

A vital part. Even though there is only one person who is missing, it feels like the world is missing its heartbeat. It wouldn’t be right to call Edo his home without that man in it, and it wouldn’t be right to call Yorozuya complete without the three human members and their one dog together. 

He doesn’t realize since when, but they have become something he would do anything to protect, just like his Shinsengumi. How far they have come, from enemies to this. 

“I have owed you guys so much. It’s the least I could do.” Hijikata says.

Gengai nods. “Thank you. I will try to complete the preparation as fast as possible. It should be done tonight. Incidentally, because this time machine I am working on is still not yet complete, I need a physical catalyst related to the past to establish a connection. Does Ginnoji have anything related to this particular time period?”

“I am not sure. Gin-san keeps a lot of junk, but I don’t know whether it’s from yesterday morning or ten years ago because it all smells the same.” Shinpachi answers.

“Gin-chan can’t even keep his money to last through a day, there’s no way he could keep something from many years ago.” Kagura chimes in. “What about brat Gin-chan’s sandal or something?”

“I don’t think we should risk that.” Gengai scratches his head. “Anything on little Ginnoji’s body now exists in a weird mixture of past and present, like when you mix soy sauce and egg together on rice and they all become gooey.”

“But where to get such a thing…” Shinpachi ponders.

“Does that bastard not have anything from the past?” Hijikata asks the kids.

“I don’t think so. Most of the junk in our home seems pretty recent.” Kagura tilts her head, trying hard to think.

“Is there anyone with a connection to Ginnoji that probably has something from the past?” 

“Ah.”

It’s as if three light bulbs suddenly shine on top of their heads as a certain face drifts into their thoughts.

“There is Zura.”

* * *

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura.” Katsura declares, annoyed. He is sitting on a bridge in his fake priest robes, disguising as a wandering monk to escape from the police.

“Please Zura, we need your help! Gin-chan is totally in trouble now!” Kagura says, tugging on Katsura’s staff.

“Katsura-san, please, do you have anything from when you were still in school?” Shinpachi pleads. Katsura is their only hope. He is the only one who has known Gintoki for a long time and lives near them.

Katsura looks up at them from beneath his straw hat. “Why the strange request, Shinpachi-kun?”

“Well, you see, the thing is… Will you promise you won’t freak out?” Shinpachi shifts uncomfortably. When he sees Katsura nodding, he waves his hands. Hijikata approaches them, with little Gintoki tailing behind him like usual.

Seeing Hijikata, Katsura suddenly stands up and prepares to escape. “The Shinsengumi! What is the meaning of this?”

“I am not here to arrest you, Katsura. We really need your help.” Hijikata approaches Katsura.

“Heh. To think that the proud and noble Shinsengumi vice commander would stoop so low as to ask help from a terrourgh-” Katsura bites his tongue when he finally sees the little silver haired kid behind Hijikata.

“He’s very surprised.” Kagura points out.

“He really is.” Shinpachi agrees.

“G-G-Gintoki! It’s you, right, Gintoki? What happened? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?” Katsura shoves Hijikata aside and kneels in front of little Gintoki. “This nostalgic appearance! It feels as if you are back to being 14 again. What sort of anti aging treatment did you go through? Tell me the doctor’s name!”

“That annoyingly stifling long hair... Are you Zura?” Gintoki finally asks after he recovers from the initial shock of seeing an adult version of his friend.

“It’s Katsura! What happened to you?” Katsura looks over at Gintoki’s tiny figure then he makes a weird sound as if he’s trying to make peace with himself before pulling little Gintoki for a hug. “Gintoki!”

Gintoki struggles in Katsura’s hug. “Shut up and stop screaming! Let me go, you long haired dumbass!”

“I see you are still as foul-mouthed as ever, you little rascal!”

“Shut up, stupid monk! Why are you a monk anyways, and why is your hair so long? Aren’t monks supposed to be bald and all that?” Gintoki pulls Katsura hair, undoing his loose ponytail.

“Yes, you could say I am a monk. That would be easier. But I am not a normal monk, I am a monk who will revolutionize the country.” Katsura says.

“You are annoying!”

“As you can see, that’s the child form of Yorozuya. Specifically, it’s him from the past. He switches places with that perm head from the present.” Hijikata explains.

When he hears that, Katsura suddenly lets go of Gintoki. “Wait, so Gintoki is in the past right now?”

“Yes.” Hijikata confirms.

Katsura looks troubled. He stands up again and ruffles young Gintoki’s silver hair tenderly, but he doesn’t say anything

“We are going to get these two switch back, and to do that we need something with a physical connection to the past as a catalyst. It needs to be something that existed during the time period this kid came from.” Hijikata continues his explanation.

“Do you have anything like that, Katsura-san?” Shinpachi asks.

“I do.” Katsura reaches inside his priestly robe and takes out an old green notebook. The notebook looks well-read, but there’s a slash on it, as if someone tried to slice it but failed. 

“Zura! That notebook…” Gintoki looks up at Katsura, then at the notebook.

“Yes. It’s a notebook from when I was a student in our school, together with Gintoki. It contains all of our master’s teachings.” Katsura says fondly. He hands it over to Gintoki.

“Katsura-san, that notebook is very important to you right? Are you sure?” Shinpachi asks. Both Gintoki and Katsura never talk much about their past, and Shinpachi only managed to hear little bits about their time in school and their teacher, but he knows how much the two men respect and love their teacher. Having to part with a memento related to someone you love so much must be so painful.

“It’s okay. I know Gintoki would do the same for me. Besides, I owed him too much to not at least do this.” Katsura smiles at Shinpachi.

“Zura, thank you so much!” Kagura beams. “I will make sure to tell Gin-chan about this!”

“You don’t have to do that, Leader. Let this stay as our little secret, okay?” Katsura laughs, patting the two kids’ heads.

“Katsura-san, thank you very much! Everyone, let’s go! We need to get them back together before Gin-san accidentally destroys the world.” Shinpachi says.

“You are leaving already?” Katsura stares at Gintoki.

“Wait. Can I talk a bit more with Zura?” Little Gintoki asks. 

“But, the time machine…” Kagura looks up at Hijikata, unsure on what to do. As much as she wants for adult Gintoki to go back, she knows little Gintoki probably wants to spend more time with Zura. 

“You guys go back first. I will stay here with this guy.” Hijikata says. The kids promptly run from the bridge to Gengai’s workshop. Hijikata moves to the other side of the bridge, close enough that he could keep watch on them. He lights a cigarette as he watches Gintoki and Katsura talking together.

For this boy, who is suddenly transported away to an unfamiliar future filled with strangers, it would be very off-putting. Scary, even. Meeting an old friend, despite that friend has changed so much in terms of appearance, is like finding a lighthouse to guide you in a storm. Katsura is the only familiar person in this unfamiliar place for him and it’s a given that Gintoki would find comfort in that.

Hijikata could hear bits from their conversation, even though he tries hard to not eavesdrop on them. Gintoki keeps asking about how adult self is doing, and why Katsura still retains his long hair, and whether he remembers any winning lottery ticket number from the past thirteen years. Then he asks about their teacher, but Katsura fakes a very believable coughing attack before weakly motioning that he needs help from Hijikata.

Hijikata approaches them. “Kid, we need to go back soon. You have been talking for about an hour.”

“Wait, wait, one last question!” Gintoki suddenly straightens up and coughs awkwardly. “Zura! That guy and I, did we? Uh, you know?”

It could be a trick of the light caused by shadows casted from his straw hat, but for a brief second, it’s as if a thundercloud hangs over Katsura’s face. At last, the long haired man smiles. “Yes.”

Gintoki makes a loud whooping noise, looking as excited as if he just won a lottery ticket. “I know it! I know it’s just a matter of time. So, where is he now?”

“He’s away at the moment. He has something to do.” Katsura answers.

Gintoki looks disappointed, but he continues asking. “Do you know what it is? When will he come back?”

Hijikata has never seen a smile so pained and forced like the one pestered on Katsura’s face right now. Katsura answers. “No, I don’t. I am sorry, Gintoki.” 

“It’s a shame. I want to see how he’s doing now. Adult me is so lucky to have him.” Gintoki sighs.

“Why don’t you tell him from your time about your feelings?”

Gintoki looks at Katsura strangely. “It’s embarrassing. Besides, I am convinced he dislikes me. I need to work hard to win his affection. Knowing that I will win him over in the end makes it all worth it. That’s one good thing about this whole time travel thing. Thanks, Zura!”

“He is a moron.” Katsura looks at Gintoki’s retreating back. The silver haired boy dashes away all by himself, looking so pleased with himself. That’s probably the happiest he has been ever since he was transported to Edo.

“Oi, don’t run away all by yourself!” Hijikata is going to chase after the boy, but Katsura stops him.

“Wait.”

“What is it, Katsura? Do you want me to arrest you that badly?” Hijikata scowls.

“Whatever, you can’t arrest me. Not with your mind so scattered like that.” Katsura says. “ You don’t have to worry. The person this little Gintoki yearns for is no longer here.”

“What do you mean?” Hijikata asks. 

“Exactly what it sounds like. He has gone somewhere neither Gintoki nor I can reach.”

“No, I mean, what does that mean to me?”

“Figure it out yourself, moron.” Katsura sighs. He suddenly points at something in the sky. “Hey, do you see that?”

Hijikata looks at the direction of Katsura’s finger and sees nothing. “What-”

“Ahahaha! Good bye, Shinsengumi!” And with that Katsura escapes, leaving nothing but dust in his wake. Hijikata can’t believe he fell for such an old trick in the book.

“Oi, old man, what are you waiting for?” Gintoki calls out from ahead. Hijikata sighs and tries to recollect his composure before walking towards the boy. Gintoki has been awfully cheerful ever since he heard that news from Katsura. Katsura probably wasn’t able to say the truth to this child. Hijikata looks at little Gintoki beside him, who is still beaming, unaware of the truth. 

_No longer here, huh?_ Hijikata sighs. Does that mean that person has passed away? Suddenly, Hijikata remembers a memory of a certain gentle smile belonging to a girl basked in the sunset glow. That smile has gone away to somewhere he can’t reach.

So, Gintoki’s first love ends in total failure just like him.

Hijikata can’t help but ruffle the messy silver hair. Gintoki looks up at him, glaring. “What was that for, old man?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, we need to go back soon to the old man’s place so I could get back-” Gintoki says before he is interrupted by a loud rumbling sound from his stomach.

Hijikata can’t help but laugh. “You are hungry.”

“Don’t laugh.” Gintoki complains, his face turning red.

“How about we eat somewhere first? My treat.”

Little Gintoki weighs over his options, before realizing that he’s too hungry to argue. And free food is always welcome. He nods his head.

* * *

They are sitting in a family restaurant. The restaurant is surprisingly empty, so one is too bothered by the sight of a kid eating like he is entering an eating contest. Kid Gintoki burns through several dishes like a starving man, and Hijikata watches him over. 

“You were very hungry, huh.” Hijikata chuckles.

“Don’t blame me. I woke up late today so I skipped breakfast, then a certain runt forced me to train with him all noon. I was napping after that, and then I suddenly woke up in the future.” Gintoki says.

“You should have told me earlier that you were hungry. You as an adult are never that considerate.”

“Do you eat out a lot with the adult me?” 

“Well, sometimes. If we happen to run into each other in town.” Hijikata answers.

“So, we are not actually that close?” Gintoki asks again. “What is your relationship with adult me?”

Hijikata ponders about that. They are no longer enemies, that’s for sure, but that doesn’t mean they are friends. Their bond is far too rotten and complex to be called that. He doesn’t know what to call their relationship. He wouldn’t call himself Gintoki’s friend. When he looks at how comfortable Gintoki is with his longtime friend Katsura, and how there’s a whole different side of him he doesn’t know, he feels like there are too many things he doesn't know about Gintoki. 

Maybe calling them rivals fit better? They are certainly not friends. Hijikata decides to play it safe. “We are just acquaintances.”

“Why are you doing so much to help an acquaintance? You must have a pretty big hero complex.” Gintoki guesses rudely.

 _Not as big as you, Mr. Savior_ , Hijikata thinks. “This is my responsibility after all.”

“In any case, thank you for helping me.” Gintoki says. He scratches his head awkwardly. “You stood up for me when my sword was about to be taken, guided me around town, treated me to things, and even let me meet Zura. Thank you, Hijikata.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Hijikata says. He is a bit surprised that Gintoki is expressing gratitude to him, of all people. If it’s regular Gintoki, he would tease him about it to hell and back, but since that rotten perm head is not here, Hijikata accepts the gratitude elegantly like an adult would.

“Really, thank you. I would probably go crazy if I am stuck here without anyone.”

“I said don’t worry about it. Do you want to order anything else?” Hijikata offers, trying to change the topic. “You haven’t had dessert, right? Do you want your usual parfait?”

“What is parfait?” Gintoki asks curiously.

When the parfait comes, Gintoki is sparkling like he just sees the biggest treasure in the world. “Wow! What is this? I can’t believe such a beautiful dish exists! Is it okay for me to eat it?” Gintoki looks up at Hijikata.

“Go ahead.” Hijikata nods.

Kid Gintoki eats a spoonful and yells out his opinion. “It’s so good! I have never experienced this kind of sweetness before!”

“Eat it quietly. You are too loud.” Despite saying that, Hijikata is smiling.

Gintoki eats up the parfait as slowly as possible, as if trying to savor the taste. He probably has never had a parfait before. “This is really delicious.”

“You don’t have to eat it slowly. If you want more, just order it again.”

“Hijikata, you are rich, huh. Does a policeman make that much?” Gintoki asks.

“Well, I don’t use that much money so I have my savings. The pay is stable at least.”

Gintoki hums. “You must be popular.”

“Not really. Why?” 

“Don’t lie to me! With that face, you probably have women flocking to you, and maybe men too!” Gintoki shouts.

“I don’t. I am too busy with work to play around.” Hijikata says.

“Seriously? Never mind.” Gintoki looks down and continues eating his parfait in silence. He looks visibly disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Well, I was thinking you could help me with something since you look like you have experience.” Gintoki says, somewhat timidly.

“Experience with what?”

“Of course with l-l-love! I need love advice!” Kid Gintoki stutters and Hijikata tries to not look too shocked. When he sees Hijikata’s expression, Gintoki quickly adds on. “I mean, it’s not for me. It’s for a friend! Yeah, a friend asked me about love advice but I am stumped. Since you are an adult, you must have a lot more experience than me, right? Help me and my friend out.”

When someone asks for romantic advice about their friends, nine out of ten times they are talking about their own problems. The Yorozuya actually had a crush on someone back then in his school, who would have thought. Rather than feeling jealous, Hijikata is feeling mildly amused, looking at young Gintoki so flustered as he tries to hide the fact that he likes someone. Hijikata smiles wryly at such an obvious attempt. Does this boy forget that Hijikata was with him on the bridge? Nonetheless, Hijikata acts like he doesn’t notice. “What is your friend’s problem?”

“You see, my friend… He likes this person from school.” 

Gintoki likes this person from school. Hijikata nods.

“They spend so much time together, my friend and his crush. But there is no noticeable progress.”

Gintoki and his crush spend so much time together. But there is no noticeable progress. Hijikata nods.

“My friend is sure this guy likes him back, but he is playing hard to get. Also, my friend doesn’t know what to do next.”

Gintoki is sure his crush likes him back, but the crush is playing hard to get. Also, Gintoki doesn’t know what to do next. Hijikata nods.

“How about you tell your friend to confess?” Hijikata suggests. That seems like the most possible answer.

“It’s not that easy. You know, my friend is only about 50% sure his crush likes him back now. Sometimes his crush acts sweet, but sometimes his crush acts cold. A classic tsundere. If he confesses too soon, he is risking losing their current relationship.”

“Maybe he can try gradually getting closer to his crush by spending time together? Has he tried that?”

“How? Every time he tries to do that, his crush would get mad at him. They always fight if they are together. He just wants to get closer to his crush, but somehow his crush keeps getting angry at him and then my friend would get angry too and they fight. Rinse and repeat.”

 _That feels strangely familiar_ , Hijikata thinks. “What is your friend doing to get closer to his crush?”

Gintoki tilts his head, thinking. “Well, he tries being more intimate by calling his crush nicknames like ‘runt’ and ‘pull-top’. He wants to spend more time with him so he invites his crush to duels. He tries to get his attention by pulling his hair or kicking his butt. Oh, and he tries getting him to talk to him by hiding his stuff.” 

Hijikata can’t take it anymore. “That’s just bullying! What’s wrong with your friend? Why can’t he flirt like normal people? Of course his crush would get mad at him!”

“But what is he supposed to do? I like seeing that runt looking frustrated, it makes me feel good.” Gintoki whines.

 _His inner sadist causes him to slip off his it’s-actually-my-friend’s-problem mask_ , Hijikata thinks, his eyes twitching. “Look, kid, if you like someone, you should not do that.”

“Then what should I do? Ah.” Gintoki realizes his mistake. 

“Be honest with yourself. You are making things hard for both you and your crush.” Hijikata says, pointing at the boy accusingly. It feels weird to actually give love advice to your crush, but it’s not actually the Gintoki from his time. It’s like giving advice to someone’s kid brother.

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t know me.”

 _I don’t know your past, but I know the present you much better than both you and I would have liked to admit, at least._ Hijikata shakes his head. He tries changing the topic. “Why do you like this guy?”

“Well, at first I hated his guts. He suddenly came to me and demanded we fight, he kept challenging me over and over until he won. I guess I like his tenacity and determination. He also has this most beautiful smile. He rarely laughs, but when he does, he looks so nice. We are so similar to each other, but so different. I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels like he completes me. Even though we always fight, I can understand everything about him. I feel like if I spend the rest of my life with him, it wouldn’t be so bad. I think I love him.” Gintoki suddenly shuts up, as if embarrassed that he spills so much about his feelings.

Hijikata is quiet. Past Gintoki really loves this classmate of his. At first he thought kid Gintoki was simply crushing on his classmate, but after hearing him gushing about the guy, Hijikata knows he’s mistaken. This is not a simple first crush. Sakata Gintoki used to love someone so much, someone who completed him, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life together with that person. That kind of love wouldn’t be easy to forget. Maybe, even until now, Gintoki hasn’t been able to forget his lost love. And now, Gintoki is in the past, where that lost love is.

_Then why is he so nice to me? Why does he keep popping into my life? Why does he keep helping me?_

Hijikata remembers what Shinpachi said earlier. _“It’s okay, Hijikata-san, that idiot would have done things like that for anyone.”_

Sakata Gintoki is the man with the biggest hero complex in Edo. He would help anyone, strangers or not, because it's what he would do. Hijikata feels terrible.

“Are you okay?” Kid Gintoki asks.

“Yeah, sorry.” Hijikata drinks from his cup to escape from the coldness spreading around his body.

Kid Gintoki leans back on his chair. “It’s not fair that it’s only me who admit embarrassing things like that. Hijikata, do you have anyone you like?”

 _It’s you. I like you from the present, you stupid brat. I like the Yorozuya. But it looks like he doesn’t like me. I should forget about his stupid face and said no. It would hurt me less._ Hijikata thinks. It’s probably for the best.

However, Hijikata is a bigger moron than he thought. “I do.” 

“No way! Who is it?” Gintoki leans forward, interested.

“An acquaintance. He is an unemployed bum, he gambles and drinks heavily, he is also a sadistic rotten bastard. He gets on my nerves every time I meet him. I wish he was here right now so I could kick him.”

“What is so good about a loser like that?” Gintoki asks, his face showing immense disgust at the description.

Hijikata can’t help but laugh. “He’s not that bad. He is reliable, and always helps me.”

“That is not good enough.” Gintoki insists.

“Maybe.” Hijikata agrees, but at least it’s good enough for him. It would be painful to continue liking someone who doesn’t like him, but it would be even more painful to not admit this feeling. Hijikata has had enough of lying to himself about like and love and everything related to it.

“You know, you kind of remind me of my crush.” Gintoki says.

“Why?”

The silver haired boy smirks at him. For a fleeting moment, Hijikata could see older Gintoki smirking at him in that usual shit-eating way. “You just can’t be honest with yourself, can you?”

“Believe me, I am trying to be honest.”

* * *

After they finish eating, they finally go back to Gengai’s workshop. The device has been set up perfectly, waiting for the people who would enter it to come back to the past. Gengai explained that little Gintoki would go back first, and then Hijikata, but Hijikata would arrive hours earlier than both Gintoki. His job is to retrieve adult Gintoki before he could destroy the world inadvertently by altering the past.

“Here, Ginnoji. Drink this.” Gengai hands over a cup to Gintoki.

“What is this?”

“That potion will make you lose your memories of the future. If you go back with that knowledge, we can’t guarantee that you wouldn’t try to alter the future because you don’t like what you see.” Gengai explains.

“So I will forget everything? About today?” 

“That’s right. Are you okay with that?” Gengai asks.

Gintoki shrugs. “Well, whatever. It’s okay if I drink this later, right?”

“It will make you feel sleepy so you probably want to drink it before you get transported.” Gengai says. Gintoki nods.

“I guess this is goodbye.” Gintoki looks at everyone in the workshop. “Gramps, thank you for preparing all this. Shinpachi, Kagura, I don’t know what our daily lives are like in the future, but I think it’s probably fun. I know it’s fun for adult me too. Thank you.”

“Gin-chan, take care, okay? Don’t grow up to be a bad adult like your current self!” Kagura says.

“Kagura-chan, if Gin-san ends up a proper adult, there would be no Yorozuya!” Shinpachi chides. He turns to look at Gintoki. “Gin-san, it’s really nice to see you when you are still a child like this. I feel like we learned a lot about you as a child by seeing you in the flesh. Please, take care.”

“My adult self doesn’t talk about me, does he? Well, I do hate talking about the past.” Gintoki says. “I can’t believe I end up taking care of two children. Now I wonder how it all comes to be.”

Shinpachi smiles. “It’s not fair that only you get to listen to old tales. Please look forward to experiencing it yourself!”

“Yes, no matter what, you would see us again in the future! That’s why, this is not goodbye, because we will see each other again!” Kagura yells, pulling them again for a group hug. Gintoki accepts the hug, smiling.

When he lets go, Gintoki finally looks at Hijikata. “I have been imposing on you since the beginning. Thank you again, Hijikata, for everything.”

“Don’t sweat it.”

Gintoki sighs. “Playing cool until the very end, huh? You are such a tsundere. I think I know why adult me keeps you around.”

“I am not playing cool.” Hijikata retorts. 

“Yeah, yeah, thank you for everything. I wish you good luck on future romantic endeavors.” Gintoki sticks out his tongue. He enters the pod connected to the time machine and sits down, hugging his katana close.

“Yeah, you too.” Hijikata says. “Be happy.”

“See you, Hijikata, everyone. Let’s all meet together in the future.” Gintoki smiles one last time before gulping down the content of the cup. He yawns, and just like that the boy falls asleep. He won’t wake up until he comes back to his own time.

Gengai does something on the computer, and a blinding light suddenly washes over the messy workshop. When it subsides, the boy inside the pod is gone.

“Okay, your turn.” Gengai nods at Hijikata.

“Hijikata-san, take care! We wish you luck!” Shinpachi says.

“Toushi, you can do it I believe in you!” Kagura cheers.

“This device will help you get back. You just need to press it and you would come back, but you can only use it once. So you should only use it after you meet up with Ginnoji. And you should probably hang onto this.” Gengai hands him over a strange clock device and a piece of blank paper. “That paper comes from the green notebook. I can see it’s an important notebook, so I only used a little bit of it. It will serve to establish your connection to the present.”

“I understand.” Hijikata nods. He steps into the pod.

“The destination is a little town in Choshu, where Ginnoji is. Safe travels!” Gengai yells.

And then Hijikata sees white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I love writing angst. Anyways, next chapter is a direct continuation of this chapter. We are going to see Gintoki’s side of the story!


	9. The term ‘first love’ is pretty cringe when you think about it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange encounter with a fortune teller transported Gintoki back to the past, to Shouka Sonjuku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I am entering finals week and uh. I started playing Genshin Impact even though I have finals coming up so *clown emoji* Wish me luck in rolling a SSR guys!! Also here you go, a lengthy update after dead weeks!!!

When Gintoki opens his eyes, the only thing he sees is white. 

He later realizes that the whiteness he sees is smoke. The smoke envelopes him, causing him to lose sight of everything, even the sensation of the ground beneath his feet. Being inside that smoke feels as if he’s weightless, floating like a feather inside a blank world. The smoke is somehow simultaneously hot and cold, solid and not solid, and it feels unlike anything he has ever experienced before. He wants to both escape from this smoke and to stay in it forever, to lose himself in that blinding whiteness.

But before he could decide, the smoke subsides.

Gintoki blinks, adjusting his eyes to the evergreen scenery. Somehow, he has changed location. He is currently standing beneath a great tree in a forest, surrounded by nature, with no signs of the bustling city around him. He could swear he was in Edo minutes ago, talking to a certain Shinsengumi vice commander, when a strange fortune teller suddenly interrupted his quality time with Hijikata and made cryptic remarks before throwing a bomb at them.

And now he is in a forest.

A lesser man might panic when he is suddenly transported to an unknown place, but Gintoki has survived zombrow apocalypse, giant cockroaches, dick turned into a screwdriver, and everything else. He once woke up in a strange interdimensional dark space where an old guy claiming to be the spirit of his mail order wooden sword offered to teach him a special fancy technique. This is probably yet another installment into the comedy of errors that is his life.

Or that’s what he thought, at least until he realizes where he is standing right now.

Once again, Sakata Gintoki is standing in the middle of a forest. Gintoki would like to claim that any forest looks the same, just trees, branches, and some bushes, but not this one.

When he was a child, there was this big tree located in the forest near his school. The tree was humongous and Zura even claimed that it was probably the oldest tree in the forest. Looking back at it, the tree wouldn’t look out of place in a Ghibli movie, enough to make any young kids lose their wits in excitement. But for Gintoki back then, the tree merely provided nice shades to take a nap underneath it. It was located quite far into the woods so it was quiet and most of his classmates knew that beneath the tree was his favorite place to sleep so no one bothered him when he was napping. Gintoki had walked so many round trips from Shouka Sonjuku to this tree and back that he was confident he could return home with his eyes blindfolded.

After Shouka Sonjuku was burned to the ground and he went on his military campaign, he never returned to this place again.

But now he is back.

“You must be kidding me.” Gintoki says out loud. 

The very same tree from his childhood is now standing before him, as imposing and old and intimate as ever. There’s no way Gintoki could forget the way sunshine filtered through the green leaves, the familiar chirping of birds, and the peaceful stillness of the forest. Shouka Sonjuku was burned to the ground, its teacher executed, and its students either dead or miles away from it. But strangely, this place doesn’t look like it has changed at all since his youth. Everything is still exactly the same as it was years ago, untouched by the passage of time and flames of war.

Gintoki suddenly feels a terrible premonition creeping up his back.

“No way. There’s no way.” The silver haired man laughs derisively, but the unnerving feeling still persists.

Gintoki turns around and retraces a familiar path, even though there is no such path in the forest. Instead, he is relying on years of experience, trusting his own memories to lead him back to his old school. He passes over a small clearing, turns right at the cliff, and jumps over a stream. The trees begin to disperse, and Gintoki could see the dirt road beyond the forest. If he walks down the dirt road, he would see the charred ruins of a wooden structure, where Shouka Sonjuku used to be.

But instead of a ruined school, Gintoki sees the proud building of Shouka Sonjuku from its heyday.

Gintoki freezes, not believing his sight. At first, he thought he was hallucinating. Then, he thought that maybe everything was an elaborate prank. But then he remembers what the fortune teller said.

_“If you can go back, will it make things easier for you?”_

It feels as if the sky, with all of its weight, crashes on him. 

There is no way he is actually back to the past, to Shouka Sonjuku, all those years ago.

“If this is a dream, wake me up. I will give you 300 yen so just wake me up.” Gintoki says weakly. But nothing happens. He tries pinching his cheeks, and winces at the stinging sensation. This is no dream. No dream is as realistic as this, or as screwed up as this. 

Gintoki still dreams of the past. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night, startled, the sensation of shakujo staffs belonging to the Naraku members pressed into his neck as he helplessly watches Shouyou taken away is as vivid as the feeling of the futon underneath him. He has lost count of how many times he listens to his teacher thanking him or Takasugi begging him to stop in his dreams. But the real nightmares are the ones where he saved them all, his teacher and his friends, and they are drinking together in a dirty run-down bar somewhere, talking and laughing. The illusion of an unattainable future hurts more than the harsh reality of the past.

Gintoki dreams of changing the past, but it’s all a dream that he knows will never be fulfilled. He has made peace with that. And yet, strange as it is, Sakata Gintoki is now back to the past. He is standing in front of his former school, Shouka Sonjuku. 

Judging from the time, classes should have ended. There is no one on the school grounds. The silver haired man circles around the school, looking for the dojo. After classes, it should be time for swordplay practice. Gintoki could hear voices from the dojo, the sounds of children shouting and the swinging of practice swords. He couldn’t see it as the door to the dojo is closed, but Gintoki knows that beyond that door is where his friends and teacher are. They are there, safe and alive, unknowing of the cruel future that lies ahead.

If he jumps over the fence, opens the door, and barges into the room, what would happen? If he tells them to run away, if he tells Shouyou what would happen, would he be able to save them all?

For one second, he was about to do that. But then he turns around and runs back into the forest. 

* * *

The silver haired man runs across the forest as if he is chased by a demon. Gintoki knows that he shouldn’t be here. He is not supposed to be here. It’s fundamentally impossible to travel back into the past. No, even if it is possible, Gintoki wouldn’t want to mess up the past anymore than he already did. That’s why he never attempted to go back to the past when he got his hands on the Universal Clock a few weeks ago.

Sakata Gintoki has many regrets, and sometimes he dreams of alternate solutions and outcomes, but those are only dreams. He never thought that it would be possible to actually change his past. 

For him, the dead don’t talk and the clock of time doesn’t move backwards.

Gintoki stops in front of the great tree, his forehead touching the cool bark. “This sucks. I want to go home.”

If it was him from childhood, his home meant the school located near this forest, the Shouka Sonjuku. But for him now, his home is Edo, in Kabuki-cho. It’s only been thirty minutes at most but he finds himself missing Shinpachi’s annoying tsukkomi, Kagura’s irritating hunger pangs, and Sadaharu’s stinky dog smell.

“I wonder what they are doing? I was with Hijikata back then, he probably told them I suddenly disappeared.” Gintoki sighs. Knowing Hijikata, there’s no way he would leave him alone if he suddenly disappears. At least, that’s what Gintoki thinks.

Gintoki was transporting boxes containing noh masks to a theater. It was a boring job, but at least he ran into Hijikata. Meeting him, though it was only by chance, made Gintoki’s mood significantly brightened that he couldn’t help but tease the dark haired man. And that was when the weird amanto suddenly interrupted them and caused the mess in the first place. It was like that time with the whole gender switching fiasco, but this time it is only him who got affected.

Gintoki groans. “At any rate, I have to go back soon before things go from bad to worse.”

He starts looking around the spot where he first came into this place. There is nothing out of place around the area, except for the wooden box that he was carrying. Gintoki opens it, hoping for some sort of clue, as unlikely as it is, but the only thing he finds is an old fox mask. That’s to be expected, considering the only reason he was transported here is because of the weird amanto and their strange ability.

“Does that mean… I am stuck in the past?” Gintoki says, colors draining from his face. If he is stuck here, it would take many long years before he could come back to Edo. He would be a middle aged old man like Hasegawa by then, and there’s no way he could woo Hijikata like that.

Gintoki slaps his face to focus. “No, no, I am sure those guys are doing something to get me back. Even though they always mess around, they are dependable when it counts. I just need to keep quiet in this place and wait and try to not do anything that would change the present. Hell, I could go to sleep right now and I bet I would wake up in Edo. Okay! That’s settled! Let’s sleep.”

Having regained back his composure, Gintoki sits down and leans his back against the sturdy old tree. It has been a long time since the last time he sat down underneath this tree to take a nap. The last time he did it was before Shouyou was taken away by the Naraku. Just thinking about it makes his blood boil and it takes everything in him to not run to where his teacher is.

Gintoki is about to drift off into sleep when he hears the unmistakable sound of approaching footsteps. His eyes snap open and the Yorozuya cautiously stands up. Judging from the light footsteps, they probably belong to a small child. Could they be an old classmate of his, or maybe a kid from the village out to play? Regardless of the identity, it’s best that Gintoki doesn’t show his face. He doesn’t even know how to start explaining his situation to anyone.

The wooden box lays open beside him. Gintoki grabs the white kitsune mask and hastily puts it on. He is tying the string when the bushes rustle and a young boy comes out.

The young boy is grumbling to himself, his voice sounds annoyed. “That dumbass, always making trouble for others. I will kick his ass when I see him.”

Gintoki turns around, expecting to take in the boy’s visage, but he realizes far too late that noh masks have awfully limited field of vision and the only thing he can make out of the newcomer in front of him is his dark hair. 

“Who are you?”

Even though he can’t see well, Gintoki recognizes that voice. In front of him, standing a few meters before him, is Takasugi Shinsuke from his youth. This young boy he can’t see is undoubtedly Takasugi, from the time when things were better. A part of him wants to rush ahead and hug the newcomer, to convince himself that it is Takasugi in the flesh, but another part of him is shackled by enormous guilt that won’t let him move his body at all. 

“Answer me. Who are you?” Gintoki could hear impatience from Takasugi’s voice, and something else. Probably suspicion. Seeing a stranger who hides his face in a secluded place will ring anyone’s alarm.

Gintoki coughs. Despite the inner turmoil within him, he can’t let this kid know his true identity. “Boy, you can see me?”

“What?” Takasugi sounds confused.

“I am the fox god who resides in this forest. It has been hundreds of years since I last conversed with a human.” Gintoki takes his lie to the next level. “Since you have seen me, I shall put a curse on you.”

“As if! You are lying!” Takasugi yells. Gintoki isn’t able to see his face, but the boy probably looks mad, angry that he is taken for a fool.

“I am not. Look at my face. All fox-like, right?” Gintoki tilts his head upwards. The lights reflected on the mask cause it to appear as if it’s laughing.

“That’s just a mask! I can still see your chin, old man!” 

“I am a real fox god, stupid brat. Look, my body is the perfect epitome of vitality. I just happen to have silver hair.” 

Takasugi scoffs. “Big deal. I know another guy who has silver hair. Your hair is nothing special.”

Gintoki stays silent. He doesn’t move from his spot. Takasugi probably will leave in a minute or two, and he will be freed from this torture he is experiencing. He never thought that having your dreams come true could be this painful. 

“Come to think of it, have you seen a silver haired boy around?” Takasugi asks.

“I haven’t.” Gintoki technically has seen the silver haired boy as he is the boy in question, though he is a few years older.

“What kind of forest god are you?” Even though Gintoki can’t see him, he is certain that Takasugi is rolling his eyes at him right now.

“That boy is not here. I haven’t seen anyone here, except you.”

Gintoki used to skip to take a nap in this forest or went somewhere to play. He suspects that his kid self is either slacking off in some other place, or maybe he is taking his place in the future right now. However, the point is, kid Gintoki is not here.

“I bet he’s goofing off somewhere, not thinking about whose job it is to bring him back.” Takasugi complains. “Bye, weird fox mask.”

Gintoki hears Takasugi turning around to leave so abruptly, and his mouth opens before his brain could order it to stop. “Wait.”

“What?”

This is not the first time, and likely won’t be the last time Gintoki’s big stupid mouth leads him to dig his own grave. “Let me go with you.”

“Why?” 

That’s what Gintoki is asking himself about. Why does he want to go with this version of Takasugi to look for his own kid self? Even though he wants the boy to get out as soon as possible earlier, now he can’t bear to watch him leave.

“Because I am a forest god. Every child who lives here is under my protection.” Gintoki lies as easily as he breathes.

“Weren’t you about to put a curse on me earlier?” Takasugi points out. “Well, whatever. As long as you don’t cause trouble for me.”

“I won’t, boy. Trust me. I am a god after all.” Gintoki nods, and moves forward before spectacularly falling to the ground. His field of vision underneath the mask is still shit. _How uncool_ , Gintoki thinks.

“What kind of god falls to the ground like that?” Little Takasugi chuckles. He approaches the silver haired man and offers a hand. “Here, you can hold my hand. You can’t see anything, can you? I don’t want you falling everywhere and getting lost. What a loser.”

Gintoki accepts the hand. Compared to older Takasugi’s hand, this hand is smaller and more fragile. “I was testing you. Congratulations, boy. You passed splendidly. You helped a stranger in his time of need without hesitation.”

“Whatever.” Takasugi says.

The two of them walk through the forest side by side. Gintoki can’t see the boy’s face so he has no idea how old this Takasugi is. He could feel that the boy barely reaches his shoulder, but Takasugi has always been cursed with a short body. Gintoki decides to ask. “How old are you, boy?”

The dark haired boy sounds annoyed. “You keep calling me boy all this time. I have a proper name. My name is Takasugi Shinsuke, and I am fourteen years old.” 

Fourteen years old. In one year, or maybe less, Shouyou would be taken away. And then, this boy would enter a losing war and had everything he strived to protect destroyed. 

“Shinsuke-kun, is it? Nice to meet you.” Gintoki says, and he means it.

“What about you? What is your name?”

“Me?” Gintoki hums, collecting his thoughts. He can’t use his real name. “Call me Yorozuya.”

”Yorozuya? As in an odd jobs shop? You are working even though you are a god?” Takasugi asks.

Gintoki mentally berates himself. “No, stupid brat. My name is written as “ten thousand” and “night”. I am a proper god.”

“You are very suspicious.” Takasugi says. “Do you have any idea where Gintoki is, Yorozuya? He’s the silver haired boy we’re looking for.”

 _He’s right here_ , Gintoki thinks. “He’s probably playing somewhere. Kids love to play, right? Leave him be.”

“I would love to, but our teacher is looking for him.” Takasugi sighs. Then, his tone of voice suddenly changes and he starts going on an angry rant. “He is the oldest student in our school, so he should realize that he has responsibilities. Instead, he keeps skipping like this. In class, he is either sleeping or throwing things at me. He’s annoying.”

Gintoki can’t help but chuckle when he hears Takasugi’s rant. “Sounds like you have your mind full of him.”

“I hate him. He is always getting on my nerves and teasing me.” Takasugi answers bluntly.

“Maybe he likes you.” Gintoki can’t help but say it. After all, that was the truth. 

Takasugi scoffs. “There’s no way. If you like someone, you should tell them clearly. What kind of backwards thinking is teasing someone you like? What a twisted mindset.”

Gintoki can’t deny it. He does have a pretty backwards notion on what to do to get closer to your crush. Gintoki fakes a cough. “Well, some people are stupid like that. What about you? Do you like him?”

Takasugi doesn’t say anything. With great difficulty, Gintoki peers down on the boy, trying to adjust his limited vision on the boy’s face. He is surprised to see the boy looking at the ground, the tips of his ears red. “N-not really.”

Let it be known that even though his current adult self is a demon hell bent on revenge, Takasugi Shinsuke is fundamentally a tsundere.

Gintoki can’t help but feel embarrassed by such a pure reaction. If he knew that Takasugi did in fact like him back since they were classmates, everything would be way easier. They only started dating during the war. Gintoki was too much of a coward back then to actually act on his feelings. After Shouyou was taken away, he became much more paranoid of losing his friends that he decided to confess. He wanted to at least regret that he confessed and got rejected rather than never confessing at all.

He never thought Takasugi would say yes.

“I see, so you like him.” Gintoki says slowly.

“Don’t tell anyone! And I don’t!” Takasugi stomps his foot angrily at Gintoki, causing the taller man to wince in pain.

“Stupid brat… So do you like him or not? Which one is it?” 

“Shut up, stupid old man! You are annoying!”

Gintoki closes his eyes, feeling strangely fond of the boy. The number of times he met Takasugi after they were separated could be counted with one hand, and each meeting left him with a bitter taste on his mouth. The last time he met Takasugi in the flesh was in the street of Yoshiwara after he attacked the Edo Castle. They didn’t say anything, merely passed each other as if they were strangers. Even though he told Takasugi that he would cut him down the next time they meet during the Benizakura Incident, Gintoki didn’t bother to chase after the man. Was that mercy, or lingering affections?

Ten years ago, he loved Takasugi. That was the truth.

Just looking at that man made him feel indescribable happiness, and he wanted to protect him with everything he got. He wanted to be near him and fight alongside him and share drinks with him. Amidst the days of war and uncertainty, the green eyed man was his light.

But the one who destroyed his own sanctuary was himself. He broke the promise he made to Takasugi, killed his own master, and left him full of hatred and bitterness. It would probably be better if he never attempted to get close to Takasugi in the first place if he would only hurt the man he loved.

“Shinsuke-kun, I get it that you like that boy. But you know, after hearing everything, the boy sounds like a total scum. He is a good for nothing, he probably wouldn’t be able to hold a stable job in the future. Don’t get close to him.”

To his surprise, Takasugi actually hisses at him. “Don’t tell me what to do. And don’t talk like you know him.”

 _It’s precisely because I know him well, and I know you so well that I can say that,_ Gintoki thinks. “Why are you so angry? I just want you to be happy. Rascals like that will only hurt you.”

“I am not angry!” 

“You sure sound like you are angry right now.” 

Takasugi jabs Gintoki’s side. “Shut up, idiot!”

“Ouch! Okay, I get it. Stop doing that. Look, we are almost in the village now.” Gintoki says. They have exited the forest, walking on a dirt road leading to a village. The village is the closest human settlement to the school, and it’s where they usually procure stuff or just hang around. At first, the villagers were wary of the strange rounin and the propagandas surrounding his school, but over time the villagers warmed up to them. Gintoki usually hung around in restaurants or shrine grounds, sleeping or just eating whatever he could buy with his pocket money.

“Let’s go to the shrine.” Takasugi says. He leads Gintoki by the hand, guiding him through the streets. Finally, they make it into the top of a flight of stairs into the shrine grounds. Gintoki remembers this place. This is the place where he first met Takasugi and Katsura when they were ambushed by some snobby kids. He threw his sword to silence those brats, annoyed that their scuffle made him unable to fall asleep. At that time, Gintoki would never be able to guess the outcomes of that simple action.

Takasugi lets go of his hand. He is walking around the shrine grounds, calling for Gintoki’s name, unaware that the owner of the name is standing behind him, hidden behind a dumb fox mask. 

“He’s not here either.” Takasugi comes back to him, grumbling. “What a pain. I will seriously kick his ass when I find him.”

“Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“He’s like a stray cloud. He keeps disappearing and appearing like that, but most of the time he sticks with us.” Takasugi answers. “Gintoki’s hair is silver too, like clouds. It’s very much like yours. His hair is very fluffy. Don’t tell anyone but I think his silver hair looks plenty cool. He keeps whining that he wants straight hair though.”

Gintoki can’t help but ruffle the young boy’s hair gently.

“What are you doing…”

“Your hair is fluffy too.” Gintoki continues to mess up Takasugi’s hair. He is really here with him, in the flesh, carefree and innocent, and that’s all that matters.

“Cut it out! I am not a kid.” Takasugi protests.

“No, you are a kid.” Gintoki laughs. “You are a kid, so you don’t know anything. You just need to grow up well, stay away from no good silver haired brats, and be happy.” 

Takasugi steps back, escaping from Gintoki’s head pats. The dark haired boy eyes him in suspicion before finally saying slowly. “You are weird.”

“Am I?” 

“Yeah. You act as if you know things I don’t know.” Takasugi looks at the strange man in the fox mask who is fidgeting awkwardly before continuing. “Could it be… you are a real god?”

“Huh?” 

“Are you?” Takasugi asks again, his voice quivering.

Gintoki knows Takasugi so well that it’s easy to tell that his voice is not quivering because of fear. It’s excitement. Takasugi likes edgy stuff like this after all. There is a reason he named his personal unit the Kiheitai. “Yes.”

“S-so cool…” Gintoki couldn’t see it, but he bets his entire meager fortune that Takasugi is now looking at him with sparkles in his eyes. 

“Aren’t I?”

“I have been wondering about this, but that sword hanging from your waist, is it a magic sword? Can it curse people? Can I look at it?” Takasugi is now attacking him with barrages of questions. He sounds positively excited.

“It’s a sword gifted to me by the Sage of Lake Toya. It may look like a normal wooden sword, but the wood itself is crafted from the ten thousand years old tree from a foreign star, and it can cut through any and everything. Its name is Star Smasher.” Gintoki explains, though in reality he just recites what he hears from the TV commercial. It’s not like Takasugi knows the truth.

“Star Smasher…” Takasugi repeats, awed. “Are you strong?”

Gintoki frowns, he knows where this is going. “Well, I guess.” 

“Fight with me.”

And there it is. Ever since he was young, Takasugi loved picking fights, be it with people or the country.

“No.” 

“Why?” Takasugi pouts. “You are so stingy.”

“No means no. You are a kid, I am an adult. Do you want to get blown away?” 

“I am strong. I rarely lose.” Little Takasugi insists.

“Yeah, right. Come back in 13 years.”

“I am serious! Fight me! Stupid perm head!” The little boy kicks his leg, trying to get a reaction.

“Shinsuke?” A gentle voice calls out from below the stairs, causing the boy to stop his kicks.

Takasugi hurriedly runs to the top of the stairs. He sees Shouyou smiling at him from below. Takasugi greets his teacher enthusiastically. “Sensei!”

“Are you with someone? Is that Gintoki?” Shouyou asks. His teacher begins ascending the stairs. 

“No, he’s not here. Sensei, this is-” Takasugi turns around at the man in the fox mask standing behind him, but there’s no one there. He could swear that Yorozuya was still here with him seconds ago, but now there’s no one beside him on the shrine grounds.

“What is it, Shinsuke?” Shouyou has reached the top of the stairs. He tilts his head, confused when he sees Takasugi looking around as if he lost something.

“Ah, nothing.” Takasugi coughs. “Gintoki is not here. He is not in the forest either.”

“How troubling. I hope he’s not playing too far.” Shouyou frowns. Gintoki is a troublemaker who often gets himself into sticky situations. Shouyou can’t help but worry for his student.

“He will come back when he’s hungry, sooner or later. He’s always like that.” Takasugi says, trying to ease Shouyou’s worries.

The long haired man smiles. “You are right. We should just wait for him to come home. Kotarou is making food right now. How about we help him, Shinsuke?”

“Ah, no. I… am going to search some more for Gintoki.” 

“Is that so? Don’t push yourself too hard. When you meet him, tell him to come back soon, okay? I am counting on you, Shinsuke.” Shouyou pats Takasugi’s head before he leaves the shrine, descending the stairs.

Takasugi waves at his teacher. “You can come out now.”

Emerging from the shadows of the trees, the silver haired man in fox mask enters Takasugi’s field of vision once more. The man is looking down, the lights reflected on the white mask make it appear as if he’s crying. “I am here.”

“Why did you hide yourself?”

Gintoki didn’t expect to meet Shouyou. When he heard that voice again for the first time, it took everything in him to not run to his teacher, pull him in for a hug, and cry like a little baby. Instead, Gintoki turned around and ran into the forest. Gintoki feared that he couldn’t control himself if he met Shouyou, he didn’t trust himself to not accidentally fuck up again and reveal everything. Even if he didn’t reveal anything, someone as perceptive as his teacher could probably find out easily that he’s Gintoki, and then he would have no choice but to explain everything.

“I don’t show myself to just anyone.” Gintoki replies. “Besides, your teacher might have a heart attack if he sees you with a weird guy like me.” 

Takasugi laughs. “So you do realize that you are weird.”

Gintoki doesn’t say anything. When he hears this little Takasugi laughing in such a carefree way, in the same way he laughed in the dojo after he defeated Gintoki for the first time, it makes him feel guilty. When Gintoki sees the smiling Takasugi, happy and safe and loved, he feels like the most heinous criminal in the world. He destroyed that happiness. Takasugi was the one he loved, the one he wanted to make the happiest in the world, but Gintoki broke him.

Takasugi’s laughter finally quiets down when he hears the unmistakable sounds of sniffling. “Yorozuya? Are you crying?”

“I am sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Takasugi asks. He doesn’t know why this self proclaimed god suddenly starts crying, and he doesn’t know what to do when someone is crying.

“I am sorry, Shinsuke.”

“No, seriously, what are you apologizing for? I am not angry.” Takasugi approaches Gintoki carefully, unsure of what to do. If it’s his teacher, he would surely know what to do to console someone like this. “Let’s go back to Shouka Sonjuku. Are you hungry? Sensei and Zura are making food right now. Do you want some?”

_Let’s go back to Shouka Sonjuku._

“That sounds… nice.”

If he goes back there, that means meeting Shouyou again. His teacher who saved him from the doomed life of a demon and made him human, who taught him swordplay and letters, whose calm voice eased him from nightmares. That means being able to talk together with Zura without the latter inviting him to join the Joui movement, because things were brighter back then and there was no country to topple. That means another chance to relive his bittersweet, awkward, and strangely heartwarming romance with Takasugi.

He would be able to regain everything he once lost, his teacher's life and his friends’ innocence.

But that would come at the cost of losing the current things he holds dear.

“What are you waiting for?” Takasugi asks, his voice sounds concerned as he tugs Gintoki’s sleeve impatiently.

“I…”

The fortune teller was right. Gintoki is lost. Even though he has settled into a peaceful life in Edo, he can’t help but regret that his teacher and friends aren’t in it. Takasugi accused him of forgetting everything about Shouyou, about his lost comrades, about him, but he couldn’t be more wrong. Gintoki still dreams about the past. He never once forgot the bitterness, anger, and regret from back then. But he still chooses to keep swinging his sword for the present, and the future, even though the past is chaining him down.

But now, being here in the past, the chains feel heavier than ever. Gintoki fears he might really lose himself this time.

“There you are. I have been looking everywhere for you.”

When he hears the familiar voice coming from behind the shrine, Gintoki freezes. It’s a familiar voice belonging to a familiar man he often encountered lately, but that voice doesn’t belong in this era. He is not supposed to be hearing, or meeting Hijikata Toushirou in Choshu, years before their first meeting in Edo.

Unless his heart has gone so far into the deep ends, he begins hallucinating.

“Yorozuya.” 

Again, that voice calls out to him. Gintoki faintly remembers talking to Hijikata just a few hours ago, but now it feels like he hasn’t met that man in many years. Is the man talking to him really Hijikata, or merely Gintoki’s subconscious trying to wake him up?

“Don’t ignore me.”

Gintoki sees blue eyes in front of him, its metallic shade is precisely the same color as Hijikata’s eyes and realizes that the man in front of him is truly Hijikata, his own Hijikata from the future, in the flesh. 

Hijikata is standing right before him. Gintoki doesn’t even know how that’s possible.

“What are you doing here?” Gintoki finally manages to ask.

“I am here to get you back home.” Hijikata answers. He doesn’t comment anything about the strange mask Gintoki is wearing.

“Home?”

“To Edo. Your kids are waiting for you. Let’s go.” Hijikata grabs Gintoki’s wrist, dragging him to leave the shrine grounds. Gintoki is far too dazed to realize that Hijikata is voluntarily holding him, or that he’s being taken away in full force so suddenly.

“Why are you here?” Gintoki asks, trying to make sense of the sudden appearance of Hijikata.

“Gengai and the kids helped me. We need to go back now. The longer you spend your time here, our present timeline is at higher risk to be erased once and for all. You could destroy the present by changing things about the past, thanks to this time travel bullshit. And don’t get me started if you meet your current self.” Hijikata says.

“Oh, shit.”

Hijikata stops, turning around to look at Gintoki. “What did you do?”

“Wait!” Takasugi yells. “Who are you? Where are you taking Yorozuya?”

Hijikata looks at the dark haired boy he doesn’t recognize, confused. “I am taking this guy back.”

“No. He is going to Shouka Sonjuku with me. You go back alone.” Takasugi says defiantly.

“What? No, he is going with me. Yorozuya, who is this bratty kid?” Hijikata nudges Gintoki’s shoulder, asking for an answer, but the silver haired man doesn’t say anything.

“Don’t decide things on your own. Yorozuya, who is this nicotine smelling old man?” Takasugi glares at Hijikata.

Hijikata’s brows are twitching as he tries his best to not lose his temper. “Listen here, brat. I need to get this guy back. His place is not here. Go back to your home like a good boy, okay?” 

“Don’t treat me like a child, stupid old man!” Little Takasugi kicks Hijikata’s leg with enough force to make the older man bite his lips in pain.

“Why, you little-”

“Yorozuya, let’s go!” Takasugi takes advantage of the situation and grasps Gintoki’s hand tightly, leading him into the forest. Gintoki allows the boy to take the lead, guiding him through the woods. He’s too dazed to argue. A part of him feels guilty for leaving Hijikata like that, but another part of him does want to see his teacher again.

Can Hijikata forgive him for something like that?

Even if it’s just a minute, he does want to see Shouyou again. He wants to sit on the engawa porch, looking at the countryside view and basking in the sunlight. He wants to eat Katsura’s onigiri. He wants to banter with Takasugi again and fights him until they are both sore. He wants to listen to Shouyou’s lectures and see his teacher smile like the sun itself, melting all of the worries frozen in his heart.

Sakata Gintoki simply wants to go back.

“I am sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. There’s nothing to apologize for.” Takasugi turns around to look at the silver haired man. “Who was that guy anyway?”

“That was…” That was Hijikata Toushirou, a man Gintoki met by chance after he got roped into Katsura’s terrorist activities, the man he kept clashing swords and words with, but he later grew to respect and trust. The man he somehow keeps getting entangled with, the man he is sharing a rotten bond with, and the man he absolutely doesn’t want to lose to. The man he dreams about.

 _In a way, he is very much like you_ , Gintoki thinks. _That guy and I even argue about the most pointless things like you and I did._

Maybe Gintoki does have a type for stubborn dark haired bad boys with a smoking problem and difficulty of being honest to themselves. 

_Is that why I am attracted to Hijikata in the first place? Because the familiar back and forth feels like I am back with Takasugi?_

Gintoki can’t find the answer to the question. Or rather, he doesn’t want to answer.

* * *

Gintoki and little Takasugi finally stop in front of a wooden gate, panting. The boy led him running across the forest circling the village and the school, stopping for nothing, not even to catch their breath. He only ceased his pace when they were within sight of the school. When they finally reach the school, Takasugi lets go of Gintoki’s hand and straightens himself. 

“We are here.” Takasugi says. “Welcome to Shouka Sonjuku.”

It’s hard to believe that he is truly back in Shouka Sonjuku, to the place where everything began. The wooden gate is open, as if inviting him to once again run wild within its confines. Class and practice have both ended, but the schoolyard is still filled with children. Some of them are playing, some are talking, and some are practicing their swordplay with their friends. Shouka Sonjuku is a place where children of all kinds of statuses and ways of life gather to learn, and there are many things that could be learned in the schoolyard.

“It’s always so noisy here, even after lessons have ended. They are all good children, though. You don’t have to worry.” Takasugi explains. 

“Is that so?” Gintoki sweeps his gaze across the yard, looking at three girls playing cat’s cradle (he remembers their names, Nene, Furi, and Mako. He never saw them after he went to war with the others. Gintoki prays that they are living happily now.)

“Well, the biggest troublemaker is not around right now. You can rest easy.” Takasugi says.

Gintoki sees two boys wrestling on the mud, their little faces covered in dirt and their clothes messy, laughing maniacally. Gintoki remembers that they are brothers, sons of a farmer from the village. The older brother died during a failed surprise attack. His younger brother lost his leg and deserted the war, going back to his family’s home.

“Gintoki would come back sooner or later. You could see how much of a jerk he is soon.” Takasugi says, assuring the god in the fox mask. But from his worried tone of voice, he is probably trying to assure himself.

The masked man in question didn’t hear him. He is looking again at a small crowd near the building entrance. Kiyo, one of the girls who entered the war, is loudly reading something to the crowd, but the only thing Gintoki could hear is her pained screams when arrows hit her body as they fled the battlefield. Beside her is Miya, who lost both of her older brothers during the war, and was the first person who fainted when she heard Shouyou was taken away. Takezou, who survived the war only to be captured later when he tried to bomb a foreign embassy, is trying to take the paper Kiyo is holding. He sees Seikichi, who was captured by the Bakufu and had his head displayed in the riverbank, talking with Jirou, who sacrificed his life so their troops could escape during their first battle.

Gintoki doesn’t know that it’s possible to be surrounded by living, breathing ghosts during broad daylight.

“Are you listening to me?” Takasugi’s voice brings him back.

Gintoki blinks. “What?”

“I said, we are going in. Don’t just stand around like a dumbass like that.” Takasugi pushes Gintoki from behind, directing him to enter the school.

At that time, the sliding door opens and little Katsura is standing right in front of them, wearing an apron and holding a giant wooden bucket filled to the brim with onigiri. “Welcome back, Gintoki, Takasugi. Oh, Gintoki? Did you get taller?”

“This is not Gintoki. This is Yorozuya, a fox god of the forest.” Takasugi introduces the silver haired man in fox mask to Katsura proudly.

Katsura stares at the man, confused. “If he’s a fox, where is his furry tail and ears?”

And now it’s Takasugi’s turn to look up at Gintoki inquiringly. “Come to think of it, where are they?”

“After waking up from my two hundred years slumber, I haven’t recovered enough spiritual power to assume my true form.” Gintoki says without pausing.

“That makes sense.” Katsura bows. “Hello, Mr. Yorozuya. Welcome to Shouka Sonjuku.”

“Yeah, hello.” 

“Why are you here?” Katsura asks. Other children have formed a crowd around them. When they see Katsura with food, they approach the long haired boy quickly. Seeing him talking with a mysterious man in a fox mask and silver hair is enough to pique anyone’s interest. Soon enough, the schoolyard is deserted, and every child is swarming around Gintoki, looking at him with large eyes full of questions and wonder.

“Look at his hair! Do you think he’s related to Gintoki?”

“Maybe he is his dad coming to take him away?”

“That reminds me, where is Gintoki?”

“Why is he wearing a mask?”

Gintoki coughs awkwardly. “I am here because Shinsuke-kun invited me.”

“Takasugi? Why?” Katsura turns to look at Takasugi.

“Well, he was crying so I thought giving him food will make him feel better.” Takasugi says, nodding at Gintoki.

Katsura is stunned for a moment before laughing. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to… but it’s so like Takasugi to try to bribe someone into doing what he wants!”

“Oh, shut up!” Takasugi yells, red-faced.

A little boy tugs at Gintoki’s sleeve to get his attention. “Big brother, you look so big and strong, so why were you crying?”

This boy, Kouji, would later accompany the older students to war despite his young age and numerous warnings. He stubbornly entered the fray without anyone knowing and lost his life. He was eleven when he died. Gintoki was the one who found his mangled corpse on the burning battlefield, and he was the one who buried the boy.

Gintoki kneels down, looking at the boy in the eyes as he placed one hand awkwardly on top of the boy’s head. “You see, boy, there are things in this world that are so painful you couldn’t help but cry. Strength or age don’t matter. The only thing that matters is whether you can grow to overcome the pain or not.”

“Painful things? Like what?”

“Maybe it’s even worse than a bee sting!”

“Is it worse than being flicked by Shouyou-sensei?”

Once again, laughter erupts among the group of kids. Gintoki doesn’t mind it. He wishes with all of his heart that the most painful thing these kids would experience is limited to being flicked in the forehead by Shouyou, but he knows that he is praying for a lost cause.

 _You could save them all_ , a voice whispers in his heart.

But saving them means destroying what he has now. Knowing his friends, they are so stubborn that they would probably still fight despite him warning them about the dangers. Telling them also means robbing the Gintoki from this time of his future.

“Oh? What seems to be the fuss?” Shouyou emerges from within the school, smiling as brightly as he always does. Gintoki remembers his teacher as someone who was always smiling, both gentle and firm, a bit airheaded, very powerful, always patient, and as calming as a gentle light illuminating the darkness or a lullaby sung in a storm. Shouyou has always been his model of a great samurai, free and unrestrained, but kind.

It has been ten years since Gintoki saw Shouyou smiling. The last time he saw that smile was before he made that fateful swing. That smile later remained on Shouyou’s face, frozen stiff and unsettling rather than comforting, even after his head was cut.

“Sensei, we have a fox god with us.” Katsura says, pointing at Gintoki.

“A fox god? Well in a world such as this one, I won’t be surprised if there’s one such god.” Shouyou laughs. “Hello, Mr. Fox. Welcome to our humble school, Shouka Sonjuku.”

Gintoki nods, not trusting himself to speak yet. He is trying hard to not let tears spill once more. He is finally able to see and hear Shouyou after so many years.

“It’s nearly time for a late afternoon snack. How about you join us?” Shouyou asks. His tone indicates that he won’t take no for an answer.

Gintoki nods again.

“That’s great!”

And that’s how Gintoki finds himself sitting with Shouyou on a porch, looking at the kids eating and having fun by themselves. It feels weird to sit again with Shouyou in this place. Until now, none of the things that happened to him made any sense. Gintoki wonders if he is simply dreaming the whole thing, from the meeting in the forest to this little lunch with his teacher. But the sensations he feels are too real, it hurts when he pinches his cheek, and he could actually feel food going down his stomach when he eats the food prepared by Shouyou.

When he eats, Gintoki doesn’t fully remove his mask. He simply pulls it up, revealing only his mouth. Shouyou is polite enough to not look at him as he eats, the long haired man simply gazes ahead with the same serene smile. He doesn’t say anything either. They simply eat in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“Ah, I am full.” Shouyou finally says, breaking the silence. He turns at the man in the fox mask. “How about a drink or two after a meal?” 

Gintoki nods.

Shouyou stands up and enters the school again. He finally comes back with a bottle of sake and two cups. “I know it may seem irresponsible to store alcohol in a learning institute, but this place is also my home. Surely you don’t mind, Mr. Fox?”

Gintoki shakes his head. He accepts the cup offered to him and patiently waits for Shouyou to pour him a drink.

“It has been so long since I found someone to drink with.” Shouyou sighs. “I don’t drink that often, you know? I don’t want to be a bad influence to the children here. This time is special. After all, we have a fox god among us.”

The silver haired man hums noncommittally, but Shouyou doesn’t mind. 

“Maybe when these children grow older and they could accompany me drinking, I could finally start to truly appreciate alcohol.” The long haired man laughs, his clear eyes beaming at the thoughts of his precious students growing up splendidly.

Truthfully, Gintoki always wanted to drink together with Shouyou ever since he was a child. Even until now, he still does. He wants to talk a whole lot more with his teacher. He wants to tell Shouyou about everything that happened since his teacher was gone, how Gintoki met a strange loud fellow named Sakamoto, how he finally confessed to Takasugi, how he moved to Edo and met a whole bunch of weird people, and how he is now running a Yorozuya with Shinpachi and Kagura. Knowing Shouyou, he would love them.

Gintoki wants to tell him, he wants to talk to him, he wants to show his teacher that he’s doing fine and hears Shouyou telling him that he has done a good job.

But Gintoki can’t. Telling his teacher about the future would ruin that future itself.

The only thing he can do is sit in silence, sipping his drink.

“Come to think of it, isn’t it quite awkward to drink with your teacher? I sure hope that’s not the case, I truly am looking forward to it. As an educator, I am eagerly waiting for the day where my teachings will help these young children bloom. I wonder what sort of samurai they would be in the future.” Shouyou says fondly.

Gintoki downs his cup, saying nothing. He simply reaches for the sake bottle, motioning for Shouyou to hold up his empty cup. Gintoki pours the sake this time.

Shouyou laughs. “You are a taciturn person, aren’t you, Mr, Fox? It’s a bit lonely when I am the only one talking. You know, there is a child here who has the same silver hair, but he is the complete opposite of you. Why, Gintoki practically never stops talking unless he’s asleep.”

Gintoki glances at Shouyou. He wonders what sort of face his teacher is making when he’s talking about his kid self. Through the damned small holes, he could see the same fond smile Shouyou always had on back when he was a child. Nothing changes.

“Still, it’s a bit troubling that Gintoki has not yet returned. He likes to go off by himself, but he usually comes back home when it’s time for lunch. I wonder what is going on.”

 _He’s here_ , Gintoki thinks. _Sensei, I am here. I am beside you right now. After everything, I am finally here again._

Shouyou suddenly turns to look at Gintoki, and for one second, Gintoki fears that he actually said his thoughts out loud. “You were with Shinsuke in the shrine, right?”

Gintoki mentally groans. Of course, there is nothing that could escape his teacher’s crazily accurate intuition. There is no one that could hide from him. Shouyou used to always beat them in hide and seek, he could find anyone in seconds and hide better than anyone, as if he’s an assassin hell-bent on finding his targets.

“Don’t worry. I am not mad or anything. Did you help him look for Gintoki?” Shouyou smiles at the man in the fox mask. “Thank you.”

Gintoki can’t stop himself anymore. “There’s no need to thank me.” He doesn’t want to hear those words again, or see his teacher smiling in that same way he did ten years ago. 

Of course, Shouyou doesn’t know just how big of an impact those words have on the silver haired man. He tilts his head, confused. “But you helped us? And Shinsuke, I am sure he is grateful that you were there for him.”

“There is no way. I just hang around and caused him trouble in the end. He probably hates me now.”

“Shinsuke is not that kind of person. He has difficulty expressing himself, so he is easily misunderstood. But underneath all that, he’s still a nice child. He’s a precious disciple of mine.” Shouyou says. 

“I know about that.” Gintoki finally says.

“Back then, you helped him find Gintoki, didn’t you? Gintoki is also precious to me. Thank you for protecting both of my beloved disciples, Mr. Fox.” 

Gintoki looks down, not daring to look at Shouyou. “But I haven’t managed to find him, that Gintoki kid.” 

“It’s fine. I am worried, but I believe he will come back. That child, he tends to take the long way home but he always makes it back in the end. The only thing we could do is wait for him and greet him properly when he’s back home.”

Home. Gintoki suddenly feels homesick. But how is that possible? He is in Shouka Sonjuku, with his teacher and friends. This place is home.

“What about you, Mr. Fox? Aren’t you going home?” Shouyou asks. 

Gintoki doesn’t know how to answer that. “Can I ask you something instead?”

“What is it?”

“Let’s say that there is someone. He lost something, but he had made peace with that. He moved on and found another thing to keep. Suddenly, he is given a chance to regain what he lost in the first place but doing so would destroy the thing he is keeping right now.” Gintoki forces himself to look at Shouyou, and continues. “Which one should he choose?”

“Is this a riddle? To be tested by a fox god is an honor. However, I am just a humble teacher.” 

If there’s anyone Gintoki looks up to, it’s Shouyou. During his childhood, he was the one who provided him with lessons and advice. Shouyou’s lessons stayed with him well into dulthood, and it never once led him astray. There is no one more suitable to solve even questions Gintoki can’t answer than Shouyou.

“It’s fine. I want to hear your thoughts on this.”

Shouyou places his fingers underneath his chin, lost in thoughts. “Hm, if you ask me, it’s better to focus on the present. This person had made peace that he lost the first thing, right? And he had found another thing, something as equally precious as the first thing, to keep. Isn’t that great?”

“Do you truly think so?”

“Of course! He should focus on the present, and the future. Who knows, there might come another chance for him to regain it all, and he wouldn’t be forced to choose one over another. The future is full of surprises, isn’t that right?” Shouyou says, sipping his drink.

“You seem to always know what’s the best course of action, don’t you, Sensei?” Gintoki laughs weakly.

“That’s not true. Like everyone else, I too keep wondering and doubting myself along the way. That’s what it means to become human, isn’t it? However, we can’t let things like that stop us from advancing.” 

“You are right.” Gintoki says. He feels a lot better after talking with Shouyou.

“I am glad that you seem to find my answer satisfactory.” Shouyou says. 

Gintoki nods sheepishly. “Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me, Mr. Fox.” Shouyou smiles again, but this time Gintoki doesn’t mind it as much as he did earlier.

* * *

After they finished the bottle, Shouyou left the porch to take care of something in his office. Shouyou had invited the self proclaimed fox god over for dinner, insisting that he would make a special meal (“Foxes love fried tofu, right? Please join us for dinner.”) for the masked man. Gintoki is left alone, musing over his options.

After talking with Shouyou, the silver haired man has more or less collected his stray thoughts.

“What were you talking about with Sensei?” Takasugi asks, plopping himself on the empty spot where Shouyou sat a few moments before.

Gintoki glances at the newcomer. “Just a few things your kid self won’t understand.”

“I told you, don’t treat me like a child.” Takasugi grumbles. “I heard from Sensei. You are staying over for dinner, right?”

“Sure.” Gintoki answers.

“That’s a promise, right? There’s still some time before dinner, so let’s have a duel first.” Takasugi says. He looks excited at the prospect of fighting a supernatural being.

“No way.”

“Just once? Please?” The dark haired boy looks up wide-eyed at Gintoki, his head tilting to the side and his hands clasping together as he pouts.

“No means no.” 

Takasugi frowns. “Gintoki always says yes if I do that to him.”

“I am not Gintoki.” Gintoki says. It takes everything within him to reject Takasugi’s request when he’s asking so cutely.

“I know, but you are so similar to him that I can’t help but wonder if the same thing would work on you too.” Takasugi sighs. 

If he’s going to go back soon anyways, Gintoki decides to take advantage of the situation and asks the question that’s been bugging him. “You keep talking about this Gintoki kid ever since the first time we met. Just what is he to you?”

There is silence before Takasugi finally answers. “A classmate.”

“Is that all?”

“What do you want me to say?” Takasugi asks, annoyed.

“No, I am just asking you. Your words and actions don’t match. You say you hate him, but you are looking everywhere for him. Is this what the youngsters call ‘tsundere’ nowadays-” Gintoki feels something stomping on his feet and yells out in pain. “Ouch, stop it, shitty brat!”

“It’s not like that, okay? It’s not like I care about that dumbass! I just don’t want him causing trouble for us. I hate his guts!” Takasugi explains, his tone rising.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Shinsuke-kun.” 

“I am serious!”

Gintoki ruffles the boy’s hair. “Of course you are.”

“You are really annoying!” Takasugi yells. Then, his voice quiets down. “You really are similar to Gintoki. You are both so annoying.”

“Oh?” 

“He always annoys me. He keeps calling me all sorts of names, and he throws paper at me in class so I couldn’t focus, then he taunts me when we are practicing. Also, he keeps hiding my stuff and denies it when I confront him about it. And he always inserts himself into whatever conversation I am having, derailing it so I couldn’t get anything done.” Takasugi begins going on a fiery rant, listing every single thing Gintoki ever did.

“That boy sounds like a real piece of work.” Gintoki says, feeling kind of embarrassed at the lengths his kid self went to get his crush to talk to him. 

“Isn’t he? He’s just the worst! And what’s worse, when he looks at me with those smug eyes, I just feel the primal urge to bash his head in!”

“Wow, slow down, Shinsuke-kun. Damn, you really hate this kid, huh?” Gintoki says bitterly.

Takasugi regains a bit of his composure. Coughing, he adds. “Well, that’s just how it is. Gintoki is a royal pain, but the part about head bashing is not serious. Mostly.”

“What do you mean, mostly?” Gintoki asks, dumbfounded.

“Fine, I will tell you. Don’t tell anyone about this, though.” Little Takasugi takes a deep breath and approaches Gintoki, pulling him closer and whispering. “I don’t actually hate him all that much when he’s not being stupid. He was the one who invited me here, after all. Thanks to him, I met Sensei and everyone in this school. If it wasn’t for him, I would probably still be stuck in a boring world with nothing better to do than inheriting my stuffy family home.”

“He did?” 

“Yes. Meeting him led to me meeting Sensei, and when I came to this school as a dojo challenger, he kept beating me black and blue. Then, when I finally beat him, he was really mad. Everyone else was very nice to me, though. They laughed together with a guy who came to challenge their dojo. After I won, I thought that was it, but then he invited me to come back again the next day. And then, I went against my parents and entered this school.” Takasugi concludes.

Gintoki remembers how angry he was when Takasugi beat him for the first time. Back then, he was really confident of his strength. He could beat everyone, even adults, ever since he was a little kid living like a ghost on the battlefield. Everyone, except Shouyou, but his monstrously strong teacher is an exception. Then, this scrawny pretty boy came, and for the first time, Gintoki lost to a peer. It frustrated him.

That’s why he thought at that time, he would surely take the next win. So he invited Takasugi to come again.

“You see, before meeting Gintoki and Shouyou, I always thought I was the strongest. In my previous school, no one could beat me in a fight. But then these two people showed me that there are plenty of other strong people. I began to want to be like them, and be even stronger than them. Especially Gintoki. I just can’t stand losing to that guy.” Takasugi says.

“Sounds like both you and that guy just hate losing.” Gintoki comments.

Takasugi chuckles. “Maybe. But Yorozuya, I just refuse to stop until I can win against Gintoki. I want to defeat him. I keep chasing after him, hoping that one day I would be able to reach that guy.”

“And what will you get from chasing after a guy like that? What is it that you are hoping to achieve?” Gintoki asks. 

Takasugi is silent.

Gintoki frowns underneath his mask, and turns to look at the dark haired boy. He is blushing. Gintoki can’t help himself. “I see, so Shinsuke-kun is thinking of something along the lines of ‘I need to be someone suitable to stand next to him’ right? What a pure-hearted boy.”

“Ah, you are getting on my nerves! I shouldn’t have told you all that!” Takasugi exclaims, burying his face on his hands.

“Wow, you really are a good boy, Shinsuke-kun. Don’t you think you are too good for such a delinquent like that Gintoki?”

“Shut up! Drop dead!”

How many years has it been since the last time he teased and argued with Takasugi like this? He used to do this exchange with that guy for so many times until Gintoki got sick of it. When they went their separate ways, there was no one to fill the void left behind by Takasugi. There was no one who could both stand beside him and fight with him. There was no one he wanted to both defeat and protect.

Until he met a certain blue eyed man.

Somehow, Gintoki found someone who made him feel the same things he did ten years ago. And that’s driving him crazy.

He really thought he had enough with this romance bullshit, but here he is coming back for more.

There’s no use denying it anymore.

Just like he loved Takasugi back then, Gintoki is in love with Hijikata now.

“Yorozuya? What’s up?” Little Takasugi asks, curious by the lack of response from the masked man.

This Takasugi is someone from the past, and he doesn’t belong to him. Not to mention he’s too young for him. This little kid is Takasugi, but not his own Takasugi. Gintoki’s Takasugi is now plotting to destroy the country, somewhere far away, out of reach.

Even the all too familiar school Gintoki is sitting in right now is not his school. He has no business being here. He is Sakata Gintoki of the present, and his place is in Edo.

“Nothing, I am just having an epiphany.” Gintoki stands up. “Tell your teacher, I am going back. Thanks for the dinner offer, though.”

“Are you leaving already?” 

“Yes. I have been imposing on you guys for too long. Just like you guys who are worried about your Gintoki, my folks back home are probably worried about me.” Gintoki adjusts his mask, making sure it’s tied properly before giving the kid in front of him another head pat.

“Your folks? You mean, there are a whole lot of gods and other magical beings in your place?” Takasugi asks, excited.

“Well, my folks are magical alright. Magically stupid.” Gintoki says.

“How are you going to get back? Are you going to fly, or call a familiar?” 

Gintoki rubs his chin. “Hm? Now that you talk about it…”

How is he supposed to go back to Edo again?

Sweats begin forming on his temple as he racks his brain furiously. _Wait, Hijikata is here to fetch me back, right? Where is that guy, anyway? What are we going to do to get back home? What if he got lost and I can’t meet him and then we are going to be stuck here forever?_

Gintoki’s thoughts are interrupted when he hears a commotion coming from the entrance to the school. Children are forming a crowd around the gate, their shrill voices are talking loudly. Gintoki and Takasugi exchange glances before making their way into the gate to check out the source of the ruckus.

“Who are you? Are you looking for Sensei?”

“What are you doing here?”

“What strange clothes… Uncle, are you not from here?”

Standing in front of the gate to Shouka Sonjuku, surrounded by curious children, is none other than Hijikata. The look on his face indicates that he doesn’t know what to do in a situation like this. He is trying his best to look cool despite some of the braver kids tugging his jacket.

“Does anyone named Sakata Gintoki live here?” Hijikata asks, coughing.

“Gintoki? Yeah, but he is out right now.” A boy with his hair tied in a ponytail answers. “Why are you looking for him?”

“Um, if Sakata-kun does something, maybe you can talk about it with Shouyou-sensei…” One girl says timidly.

Hijikata’s eyebrows are raised when he hears the unfamiliar name. “Who is Shouyou-sensei?”

“Shouyou-sensei is our teacher and the founder of this school, Shouka Sonjuku.” The ponytail boy answers proudly. For some reason, something about this boy is oddly familiar for Hijikata.

“Is this Shouyou-sensei here right now?” 

The boy nods. “He is. I can call him right now-”

“That won’t be necessary.” Gintoki interrupts. He tries to look as casual as possible. Through the tiny gaps on the mask, he could see Hijikata looking at him with an expression that is a mixture of both shock and relief. A rare expression indeed. “I am the one he is truly looking for.”

“If I may, Mr. Yorozuya, this gentleman here is looking for our Gintoki.” Little Katsura explains.

“Yeah, I know. But before that, there is something this guy and I need to settle first. Isn’t that right?” Gintoki tilts his face upwards. The evening sun reflecting on his mask causes it to appear as if the fox is laughing.

“Sorry kid, but that guy is right. There is someone I have to greet first before anyone else.” Hijikata can’t help but chuckle. “Yo, fox mask. Fancy meeting you here.”

“I could say that about you too, dumbass. What are you doing here?” Gintoki asks.

“I am a police, idiot. If there’s a missing person case, it would be my responsibility.” Hijikata answers.

Gintoki laughs softly. “What a cute answer. Did you prepare that comeback all the way from Edo?”

“Shut up. Get a move on, we don’t have all day.” Hijikata motions for Gintoki to follow him.

“Sure, sure.” Gintoki says.

They are about to walk away from the school when a voice calls out. “Wait!”

Gintoki and Hijikata turn to look at the owner of the voice, and there, standing in front of the crowd of children forming in front of the school is none other than Takasugi.

“It’s that brat again.” Hijikata frowns. Gintoki doesn’t say anything.

Takasugi approaches them. Ignoring Hijikata, he tugs Gintoki’s sleeves, forcing the taller man to look at him. “Why are you leaving so soon? Without saying goodbye to Sensei?”

“Yeah. I am sorry, but can you relay my greetings to him? Tell him, thank you for everything.” Gintoki answers softly.

“Tell him that yourself. I am not your messenger. Sensei once said, if you have something you want to say, you should tell it directly.” Takasugi says. “You are being unfair. You come so suddenly and leave so suddenly.”

“I told you, I am a fox god. Gods are fickle like that.” 

“But you promised you would stay for dinner.” Takasugi points out.

“I am sorry for going back on our promise.” He means the dinner promise and the other one, the one he made to his Takasugi when they were fighting back-to-back in that battlefield. Gintoki is sorry for breaking both of those promises, but he could only apologize for one.

“I guess there’s nothing I could say to keep you here, huh? Well, I guess it’s my loss.” Takasugi sighs.

“Thank you for your understanding.” 

Takasugi lets go of Gintoki’s sleeve, and he turns to glare fiercely at Hijikata. “You there, the V-shaped bang guy! You better get Yorozuya safely home, okay? I will kill you if you mess up!”

“You don’t have to tell me that, brat.” Hijikata answers coolly.

For the last time, Gintoki ruffles little Takasugi’s soft hair fondly. “I am going now, runt.”

“Bye, strange old man.” 

Gintoki waves goodbye at Takasugi, the gaggle of children behind him, and the all too familiar building that watches them silently. He bids his farewell. The children wave their little hands back. The last thing Gintoki sees before disappearing into the forest is Shouka Sonjuku standing proudly with the setting sun peeking from behind its wooden structure, painting a striking backdrop, and in front it is his friends. They are alive, well, and as happy as they could be, waving goodbye at him.

* * *

“How are we going to get back?” Gintoki asks. They are walking away from the school, the sounds of their footsteps echoing throughout the forest. “Are we going to walk all the way to Edo and just, wait?”

Hijikata makes a weird face. “No, dumbass. Gengai gave me a device to get us back. Hold on, let me get it- huh?”

“Oi, oi, what’s up?” Gintoki asks, panic rising slowly inside him as he watches Hijikata frantically doing a body search on his own body.

“That’s weird, I am sure I brought it with me…”

“Hijikata-kun, don’t tell me… you lost the device? You went back to the past to get me back and now you lost the device to bring _us_ back to the future? Are you an idiot?” Gintoki slowly says, horrified. 

“Ah. Here it is.” Hijikata nonchalantly pulls out a strange looking clock from underneath his jacket.

Gintoki glares at Hijikata. “So you do have it. You really scared me, you know?"

“Consider it payback for leaving me behind like that in the shrine.” Hijikata sticks out his tongue at Gintoki.

Gintoki groans. “Stop being so cute today. I will kick your ass. Also, I am sorry about leaving you like that.”

“You should be, idiot. I don’t know anything about this place and I had to run around everywhere looking for you. And what’s worse, I had to look after your brat self in Edo.”

Gintoki looks at Hijikata, surprised. “Damn. I really did switch places with my kid self, huh. Where is he now?”

“I wonder. Gengai sent him back to the future. He’s probably going to pop back into his home sooner or later.” Hijikata says.

“Is that so?” Gintoki sighs heavily. “Thank you for taking care of kid me. How was it? I was a cute kid, right?”

Hijikata rolls his eyes. “You were the rudest and most shameless brat I know, and I know Sougo when he was a kid.”

“Come on! I can’t be that bad, can I?” 

“Now then, I wonder about that.” Hijikata can’t help but let out a low chuckle when he hears Gintoki complaining.

“What did you do with kid me anyway?” Gintoki asks, feeling curious all of a sudden.

“Why don’t you ask yourself?” Rather than answering, Hijikata asks another question.

Gintoki buries his face in his hands. “Damn! I can’t remember! What did I do with Hijikata-kun when I was a little brat who time traveled to Edo?”

“Well, let me tell you one thing. You were certainly a handful. I better get my compensation later.”

“I get it, I get it. I will get you your mayonnaise later.” Gintoki says, sighing heavily. “But seriously, how did you even manage to find the school?”

“The brat mentioned Shouka Sonjuku back then in the shrine. I asked some people and they gave me directions to the place.” Hijikata pauses, glancing at the man in the fox mask. “How long are you going to wear that mask?”

“I see.” Gintoki pulls the fox mask to the side, revealing his face. He looks tired.

“Anyway, who was that cheeky brat?” Hijikata asks.

Gintoki hums vaguely. “Just a classmate.” 

“Oh.” Hijikata says. “That place was your school, right? Are you sure you don’t want to greet your teacher before going back?”

“It’s okay. Besides, he doesn’t even know that it was me who spoke with him. I was pretending to be a fox god all the time.” Gintoki sighs, touching the fox mask.

Hijikata remembers how Gintoki mentioned to him that his own school was burned down in that haunted school, and he remembers how hell-bent little Gintoki was to get back home. It must be very painful for Gintoki to be there, surrounded by living ghosts of distant past, and not being able to do anything about it other than sit in silence.

The dark haired man subconsciously reaches for Gintoki’s head and ruffles the silver hair almost tenderly, as if telling him that he had done a good job hanging in there.

“...Huh?” Gintoki dumbly looks at Hijikata, surprised at the tender gesture that is not Hijikata-like. Not that he doesn’t like it. It’s just very surprising.

“...Huh.” Hijikata finally realizes what he’s doing. He glances at his hand on Gintoki’s hair, Gintoki’s own idiotic face, and then back at his hand. Far too late, Hijikata pulls back his hand and stutters his excuse pathetically. “No, I… There was a leaf on your hair. Yeah, a leaf! I was just picking it up!”

The silver haired man looks at Hijikata, stunned. Gintoki feels his face flaming up.

“Like I said, don’t get the wrong idea!” Hijikata’s own face is reddening. He picks up his pace, leaving Gintoki and the awkwardness hanging in the air behind.

Gintoki follows Hijikata deeper into the forest, but his mind is running far ahead of his body. He keeps replaying the scene over and over in his head, getting more excited with each passing second. Gintoki doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings as he walks the non existent path in the forest. He is finally forced to stop when he bumps into Hijikata’s back.

“Wait, this place is…” Gintoki stares at the old great tree in front of him. It was the same tree he used to take a nap under in his childhood, and the same tree that greeted him when he was transported back into the past. 

“Shut up. This is the only place I know. I was transported into this place specifically.” Hijikata explains. 

“That doesn’t make sense. I woke up here too and I didn’t see anyone.”

“Because I was transported a few hours earlier than you, idiot. I tried to get out of this forest but I kind of got lost.” 

“Pathetic.” Gintoki says.

“Shut up.” Hijikata turns around. The two men are facing each other. Gintoki is wondering whether they will finally kiss, but Hijikata merely offers him the clock device. “Place your hand on that thing. We are going to go back to Edo.”

Gintoki does exactly that. “And now what?”

Hijikata looks at him. “Just wait.”

And so they wait until the whiteness once again washes over them. The next moment, they are gone.

* * *

When the whiteness subsides, Gintoki finds himself standing in the dirty workshop filled with old machinery that he knows so well. He is nowhere other than in Gengai’s workshop, squished together in a pod with Hijikata. When the pod door opens, he reluctantly disentangles himself from Hijikata and steps out into the workshop. At once, his nose is assaulted by the pungent odor of oil and something burnt. He could see the weird mechanical things Gengai has been tinkering with, big robots and eccentric devices of dubious uses.

The next thing he feels is the full force of two bodies crashing into him until he falls into the ground. The two teenagers who crashed into him are now hugging him, sniffling and crying like babies.

“Gin-chan! You are finally back!”

“We have been waiting for you, Gin-san!”

Gintoki feels his clothes dampening from their tears and does his best to ignore the heart-wrenching guilt in his chest. He really doesn’t want to make them worry. “Jeez, don’t act like I was dead. I am here, see? Gin-san’s back.”

“But, when we heard that you could be stuck in the past…” Shinpachi begins, his glasses fogging up so much that Gintoki can’t see his eyes. “We just…”

“Or what if you ended up changing something in the past, and we never met at all in the future…” Kagura continues. She tightens her embrace around Gintoki, as if trying to convince herself that he’s there.

Hijikata leaves the pod, looking down at Gintoki on the floor. “What a mess.”

“Hijikata-san! Thank you very much for bringing Gintoki back!” Shinpachi shouts.

“Thanks, Toushi! I know we can trust you!” Kagura pulls Hijikata’s leg, causing the dark haired man to fall face first into the floor.

“What are you doing-” Hijikata begins to protest, but Kagura has dragged him by the leg to join the hug festival.

And that’s how Gintoki finds himself laying on the floor with the weight of three human beings on top of him, locked in a bone crushing hug. He could feel his internal organs being pressured by the weight, and it’s so damp from Shinpachi and Kagura’s tears, and Hijikata’s glare is so sharp it could kill someone. And yet, somehow, Gintoki feels that this wouldn’t be such a bad way to go.

“Oh, looks like you guys are back.” Gengai arrives at the source of commotion. “And it looks like I am intruding on a happy family scene.”

“Hey, Gramps. Thank you for bringing me back.” Gintoki acknowledges the old man.

“Yeah, but I was not the only one who helped you. Those kids, the demon vice commander, and also the guy who supplied the catalyst all helped you.” Gengai says. “And it’s too early to say thanks. The amanto who made this mess in the first place is still missing, you know.”

Hijikata finally manages to stand up. “We will look into that. The Shinsengumi won’t let this matter pass by. I have sent Yamazaki to collect intel.”

“I will leave it to your capable hands then.” Gengai nods.

The Yorozuya trio finally stand up. Kagura and Shinpachi glance at each other sheepishly, feeling a bit ashamed of the ruckus, before looking up at Gintoki expectantly.

“What do you want?” Gintoki asks, confused. Do they want a reward or something else?

“How stupid can you be, Yorozuya? There is only one thing they want from you.” Hijikata says in a bored tone.

“What, salary? I get it, I will pay you guys soon.” Gintoki answers halfheartedly.

“NO!”

Gengai frowns. “Come on, Ginnoji, what is the one thing you say when you finally make it home?”

“Forget it, old man. He’s too much of a blockhead to notice such a simple thing.” Hijikata says, rolling his eyes.

Gintoki can’t help but laugh. He looks at Shinpachi and Kagura, who are beaming, and smiles. “Okay, okay. Sorry for being late, guys. I am home.”

"Welcome back!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this fic is still mainly a GinHiji fic don't worry guys :] but what is life without extra angst and jealousy am I right :]
> 
> Anyways I feel kinda bad for the long delay. Please take this extra large serving (13k+ words... wow) as compensation. Fun fact: the finished chapter is WILDLY different from the drafts I really think I got possessed when I wrote this /j


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